Culinary Boy
by Verlerious
Summary: He wasn't a stalker. He was just following his high school crush by going to the same college as him. That's what Vincent told himself anyway as he follows an unsuspecting Cid Highwind to the college of his dreams. Vincent/Cid
1. Chapter 1

Culinary Boy

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: Dun ask how I came up with this one, I just like the idea of Vincent in a chef outfit and hat.

Culinary Boy 01

It may not have been his real dream, but it was supposed to be something necessary to make a living. Vincent needed a job, something he was familiar with and didn't mind doing. And then again maybe that was just an excuse he made up in his head to ignore the true answer that lay in his heart. He was doing what any high school girl would do when she had a crush. Granted Vincent wasn't a girl, he was following the same tactics at least. He was going to college to follow the person that made his heart beat like a well tuned drum. The person, a male in fact, that he was after happened to have a thing for machinery. It explained why he went to a certain art college that had a strong focus when it came to anything electronic. It was the perfect place for said male to go to follow his lifelong dream in creating planes and other such things.

As for how it worked out for Vincent well...

"Hey these cookies are awesome as always, Vincent!" Zack, a roommate of his at the college, said. They'd been friends with each other back in high school. Well it was more like Zack had given him no choice in the matter, being the happy-go-lucky guy that he was. The two of them shared the small college room with another of their friends, someone that'd been introduced to him through Zack. The blond male went by the name of Cloud and was about as antisocial as Vincent was...well...except when it came to talking with Zack whom he was shyer around more than anything. At the moment the shy male was currently out of the room and at one of his classes. Much like Zack, Cloud was in training to become a social worker. Ok...so let Zack tell it, they were planning on becoming part of the FBI or some other high paying agency, good luck with that one. So what did Vincent do to prepare for his dream job?

"So how are the culinary classes going?"

"Hm?" Vincent looked up at Zack watching the male eating away the cookies he'd barely given a second glance to since bringing them back to the room. "It is going well."

"Got the girls eating out of your hand already huh?" Zack said laughing slightly at he nibbled on the cookie. In all honesty...yeah...Vincent did have the girls eating out of his hand...or wanting to anyway. It seemed like every day there were more and more girls gathering around the kitchen area to watch him dabbling around in the workings of becoming a chef. At times, it was a little more than unsettling. The same had happened when it came to him being in high school. For some reason, he drew the masses of women to him without even having to do anything or even acknowledge them.

On the one hand, the one person he did try to gain the attention of seemed completely oblivious to him. He knew Cid had his own handful of fans and friends, and there had even been a rumor a few times of him dating a girl. He was the type that was nice to his friends but pretty ornery to everyone else.

"So what's the plan for today?" Zack asked, finishing off the last of the cookies looking like a happy little puppy with a bone. "Cloud and I were thinking of going to a little club I heard about downtown. If you come along, we might be able to get twice the amount of girls to fawn over us."

"I'm going to take a quick shower before heading to bed," Vincent said getting up from the bed as he went to his dresser to get his clothes. "I have class in the morning," he added, not even looking at Zack when he said it, knowing the other had been full intent on figuring out why.

Zack pouted and was probably giving the back of his head the puppy eyes treatment. "Aw come on! It's not even a hard class for you!"

"I'd rather be well rested than fighting to stay awake," Vincent finished off, glancing at Zack before he started for the door. "Try not to make too much noise when the two of you come back." The door was opened, and just like that he was gone slipping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him. He would have given a sigh, but he felt it would have put him a bit out of character. There was another reason for why he wanted to be well rested. He knew Cid, the male who unknowingly had stolen his heart, would also be in that class. It was one of the rare classes they both shared in fact. Yet despite all of that, he'd never gotten a chance to even talk to the other male.

Ok, so it wasn't like he even knew what to say to the guy. They had nothing in common...he cooked...Cid couldn't cook...he liked literature...Cid liked science...he didn't smoke...Cid lived for smoking. In fact, Cid's lacking abilities in the kitchen was the main reason he'd joined the profession he was in now. After watching the millions of times of Cid coming to school with nothing but a bag of potato chips made Vincent determined to cook for him. Well...there was that and the time one of Cid's female friends made him a delicious lunch which, after eating it, Cid had complimented as if it were the best meal on Earth. It had been cute seeing that little grin on Cid's face and the way his eyes seemed to twinkle with ever little bite. It wasn't like Vincent was a stalker; he'd just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Shaking his head to get himself back on track, Vincent headed down the hallway heading for the shower that all the males on that floor shared since females weren't allowed in the male dorms. It was...annoying to be honest. Unless something happened to the shower on their floor, they weren't supposed to go to the other floor's bathrooms. It was stupid, but it did maintain order in its own way. Speaking of order, apparently there was something going on with the showers on their floor. Grunting slightly, Vincent kept going walking past the bathroom giving the closed for cleaning sign a brief glare before he kept going heading for the steps leading down to the next floor. It was a four story dorm building and he was on the third floor.

As he got to the bottom of the steps, he ended up head butting into someone and frowned about to apologize as he rubbed his head before he froze seeing the blond standing in front of him. Of all the people to run head first into, it had to be the same blond he'd followed to college just to get closer to him. Luckily, the blond hadn't seen him yet and he was tempted to move away but was too late as one, solid blue eye peeked open looking directly at him, the pain being reflected there.

"Ow...shit..." Cid cursed out in a hiss, holding his aching head between his hands. "Fuck...you have a hard head."

Well...it wasn't like Cid's head was a pillow. Not that he'd tell him that considering. Actually, shouldn't he be apologizing to him? Who ran into whom first? How in the world did this come about anyway? This wasn't how he'd planned on meeting Cid. Granted, the thought of running into Cid even though it resulted in head butting did make him pretty happy inside. But even thinking that, Vincent was still able to keep his facial expression blank, even with his heart beating a mile a minute.

"Hm?" Cid blinked staring at him hard and frowning making Vincent feel a bit on the nervous. Well...this definitely didn't make him feel any more comfortable. Hell, now he could understand how those girls who confessed their undying love to him must have felt. Granted he couldn't return the feeling and more often than not either glared at them, flat out walked away, or gave a quick and abrupt no to the questions they had. Needless to say, he had a lot of girls running away from him crying. Now he was starting to feel bad for it. What if the same thing happened to him? Well not that he'd running away crying or anything. Speaking of running away...

"I have to go," Vincent said taking this as the perfect chance to escape before he got himself in too deep with the man in front of him. Or at least, he thought he was going to get away until he felt the hand grabbing his wrist, the warm, coarse fingers freezing him to the spot and making him look down staring at the hand connected to his wrist and following it up to the big blue eyes staring at him.

"Wait, don't I know you from somewhere?" Cid asked him, making Vincent have to look away from the lips talking to him and try to process what was said.

"I went to Chocobo High," Vincent said quietly, wondering how much of a hint that was to the blond. Would the blond even put two and two together?

_As long as he doesn't figure out the real reason I'm here..._

"Now I remember you!" Cid yelled letting go of Vincent's hand and pointing a finger at him. "You're fucking...crap what was your nam-Vinco!"

"Vincent," he corrected not sure if he should feel happy that Cid remembered him or frustrated that he got his name wrong.

"Well, it's good I get to see a somewhat familiar face here." Had the guy even heard a word he said? "The name's Cid by the way."

"I know," Vincent said frowning at how quickly he said it, hoping he didn't sound like some crushing girl. No, he was just a crushing guy, that's all. Cid stared at him for a moment before shaking his head with a laugh.

"Heh, guess you would. Not a surprise, I guess." Cid grinned as he rubbed behind his head. "I did make some pretty weird shit back then." That was true in some ways. Cid was a creator even back then, though there were times that the school had to be evacuated thanks to Cid's inventions blowing up. "So, where you off to now? I'm actually getting ready to take a shower myself." Vincent hadn't noticed the towel draped over Cid's shoulder earlier. Noticing it now he could feel his nerves getting to him and quickly turned so Cid wouldn't see the towels in his own hand. Oh hell. There was no way he was going to be getting naked in the same bathroom as Cid. "I just finished. I was heading back to my room to rest."

"Alright then," Cid said grinning like an idiot. "See ya later, Vinco!"

"Vincent," he corrected again then grunted seeing Cid was already going into the restroom. Well, his best option was to just walk around the school and just hope that Zack and Cloud were already gone when he got back or head back now and get stuck being taken to the club. He decided to take his chances on walking around, not wanting to hang out at one of those loud, cheesy, smelly, clubs. Maybe he could go to the kitchen and try out making some new dishes.

He'd time it to about an hour then go get his shower later. He tried not to blush thinking about Cid lathering himself up in the shower and quickly made his way to towards the kitchen to help get his mind off these not so unpleasant thoughts.

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"Hey guys! I just met someone from my old high school!" Cid yelled out grinning like an idiot as he burst into the room looking at his roommates Reno and Rude.

"Who?" Reno asked, looking up from the computer he was sitting at and lifting up one side of his headphones to hear Cid. From the look of his swollen eyes, he'd been staring at the monitor for a while now.

"This guy named Vinco who used to go to Chocobo High with me. I didn't think it was fucking possible that I'd meet someone here of all places," Cid said grinning proudly obviously happy to have someone from his school there, even if he didn't really know the guy all that well.

"Do you know why he's here?" Rude asked, reclining on the bed by Reno's computer reading a book about automobile designs. Despite having only known each other for about a week now, they all seemed to hit it off quickly since everyone was pretty much in the same major. Cid had always been the type to make friends quickly. From the looks of it, Reno was the same way and apparently was childhood friends with Rude. The two of them planned on opening up an automotive shop back in their hometown. Cid, on the other hand, wanted to do bigger things with his skills. It wasn't just about cars for him.

"Nope! I just fucking ran into him in the hallway…literally," Cid grumbled rubbing his head still feeling the pain. "Never got a chance to ask what his major was. He seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere or something."

"Probably to get away from your smelly ass." Reno laughed putting the headphones back on.

"I just took a bath you jackass!" Cid yelled out glaring and throwing his towel at the back of Reno's head. His roommate didn't even react to having the wet towel hit him.

"Sorry, you did just take a bath didn't you?" The apology didn't sound authentic, especially when it was accompanied by the cocky grin on the redhead's face.

Cid grunted as he walked towards his bunk, flopping down in frustration. Damn bastards always had to joke around even though he knew they didn't mean anything by it. At least he'd be going to one of his favorite classes tomorrow, chemistry. This was only the third class of the quarter and their first time doing actual work with chemicals. Who wouldn't be excited?!Well apparently these jackasses.

Still, it was interesting to see the guy earlier with the long black hair. He remembered seeing him walking around the campus before and how interesting his red eyes were. He wanted to ask about them, he really did. But the guy seemed very elusive, like he really didn't want to be bothered with anyone. And Cid hated seeing people like that. If they were nice then they deserved some kind of friend, right? Maybe he could befriend the guy or something. After all he did just find out they went to the same high school. That couldn't just be a coincidence right?

Come to think of it, wasn't he in his chemistry class? Well he'd tried to catch up with him a few times before, but for such a tall guy he had a way of disappearing from sight. How in the world did he do that? Was his presence just that easy to lose? And yet he had girls falling out of his palm thanks to his attractive looks. Still didn't hurt to talk to the guy at least once. He was going to make sure to catch him tomorrow before he escaped from class. His name was Vinco right? Yeah that's what he'd said. No way was that wrong.

TBC…

I'm having so much fun with this fic...sadly I'm also working on other fics as well so...three chaps done for this fic at least so far!


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: Part two! And I hope I caught all the typos x.x kept dozing while proofing this.

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Culinary Boy 02

Chemistry Class. It wasn't like it was his favorite subject or even one he was fond of. But he knew it was a class that Cid really enjoyed going to, probably for the excuse to be able to mix things together even if they most times resulted in something blowing up. But that's what college was for, right? To learn to do things right?

So Vincent felt both excitement and bored with the idea of going to Chemistry class. He was excited he'd get to see his infatuation in person even if the guy could barely remember him. But he was bored of the idea of listening to compounds and equations and the list of different types of gasses. He sat at the back of the classroom, far enough away that he didn't draw attention as he stared in Cid's direction somewhere towards the middle of the classroom.

The blond stayed very attentive as he stared up towards the teacher before looking down writing in his notebook. He was completely oblivious to the unique red eyes staring at him, watching him work. Vincent didn't mind, enjoying the little details of Cid like the small stubbles on his chin like he was trying to grow a beard. He liked the way the other's eye twitched when he didn't like something or how he'd get a little frown and silently curse before he was erasing whatever it was he just wrote down.

Vincent, on the other hand, was busy trying to decide what type of cake someone like Cid would like. He'd written out a list of different types of cakes from carrot cake and German chocolate cake to red velvet and pineapple upside down cake. He wasn't really sure why he was even bothering considering he'd be too chicken to even think about giving some to Cid. He'd gotten lucky to meet the guy yesterday but really, what could he say to the guy? "Here, I don't know you very well but I made this for you." Yeah, that was as much of a confession as just flat out saying "I really like you."

He hadn't even noticed that class was over until the bell rang and people started gathering up their stuff to leave. He looked up at the board seeing what homework they had to get done before annotating it on his little notes and putting his supplies into his bag. He had a couple of hours for break before he needed to get to his culinary class. When he got up from his seat, he looked up to see that Cid had already vacated before he sighed and followed suit on the idea of leaving class. Wouldn't do him any good to just sit around in class all day. So as he stepped out he started for the dorms, planning on using the dorm kitchen to make himself something to eat.

"Yo Vinco, wait up!"

Vincent blinked and stopped turning around to see the slightly shorter blond jogging up to him. Cid paused in front of him grinning at him with a kind of boyish charm that made Vincent glance away for fear of his cheeks turning red.

"So we're in the same class, huh?" Cid said laughing out a little bit. He had his book bag slung over one shoulder verses the shoulder bag that Vincent preferred for himself. "You have any more classes after this?"

Vincent hesitated before he answered him. "I'm going to my culinary class in two hours." He thought he saw the blue eyes lighten up at that.

"Whoa, so you're going to be a chef?"

"We're just doing desserts this semester," Vincent said.

"Still not bad though," Cid said and chuckled as he reached up rubbing behind his head. "Bet you make some pretty badass cookies too, huh?" Vincent stared at him not sure why he felt like this man was just so…perfect to him.

"I can make you some," Vincent said a little eagerly then cursed himself at the funny look that Cid gave him. "If you want…or…lunch." Vincent glanced away digging the hole deeper. Well this wasn't going out the way he wanted. Did Cid think he was some strange weirdo now?

"…Sounds good," Cid said breaking the awkward silence. Vincent blinked and looked at him again seeing the grinning face staring up at him. "Besides, I'm pretty fuckin' hungry right now anyway." Vincent didn't even realize he'd been holding his breath until he heard those words. He wanted to smile, dance for joy, or some kind of celebration. But instead he just gave a nod of his head and turned around heading towards the dorms with Cid. "So how long have you been cooking for?"

"Since middle school," Vincent said enjoying the small talk and the fact that Cid wanted to know more about him. "When my mother got sick, I took responsibility to take care of feeding my younger siblings."

"Ah I see," Cid said walking beside him with a small frown on his face. "Substitute mother, huh?"

"…Yeah. Just temporarily." Vincent frowned. Well that was one way of putting it. "It's been an…interest of mine since then."

"That's cool," Cid said laughing it up. "Nothing wrong with a man wanting to learn to cook. Must be learning for your girlfriend or something."

And here it was, the moment of truth. It was the perfect opening, the perfect time to confess that he had only one person on his mind and that that person was the very man in front of him. "…I'm not dating one," Vincent said.

"Seriously?" Cid stopped staring at him like he'd just lost his head. "Considering how attractive you are, I'd think you had girls lined up to fucking date you." He laughed again. Boy if he knew how true that was. Wait…did Cid just say he was attractive? "Not that I'm saying I'm into guys or anything. Just saying you look like you could pick up a lot of girls. If you were a chick, I'd probably date ya." …Fuck.

"I'm only interested in one person," Vincent said.

"Really? Who? Someone here or someone back from our old school?" He could tell Cid was waiting to hear it. Since they went to the same high school, he assumed that Cid was waiting to see if it was someone he knew. How strangely ironic that the person Cid wanted to know about was actually himself.

"…Looks like we're here," Vincent said changing the subject. "Is there anything you want in particular?"

"I'm open for anything," Cid shrugging his shoulders. "It's not hard to please me." Oh how Vincent knew that. He'd seen Cid about die over a wrapper contained honey bun. What would he do if he knew that Vincent could make the same thing only better tasting and fresh?

"I don't have much time left till my next class," Vincent said leading them to the kitchen. "What about a turkey sandwich?" He glanced back at Cid who had this look on his face like he was asking if he was serious.

"Whatever you have time for." Cid lifted a brow at him. "Sure you don't want me to just make it myself?"

"Just have a seat," Vincent said keeping himself from rolling his eyes as he went about pulling out the ingredients with his name on them. A pack of fresh cut deli meat he'd gotten from the day before was pulled out of the fridge along with onions and other small fixings. He paused to ask if Cid was allergic to anything and at the simple no he chopped the onions up starting to sauté them in butter. Next he started chopping up the turkey meat before tossing it in.

It was followed next by other ingredients ranging from teriyaki sauce, Worchester sauce and red wine vinegar to pepper and oregano. Two fresh cuts of bread that he'd made yesterday were placed in the toaster while the meat marinated in the sauce on the stove. When all the juices were baked into the meat he placed a slice of provolone cheese on top letting it melt until it were nice and gooey. Meanwhile he took the time to wash some lettuce and slice some tomatoes.

After that all it took was putting the sandwiches together before he slid one plate over to Cid and took a seat at the table. The kitchen was reserved for the students in the culinary class so he didn't have to worry about his things being stolen or used without his permission. He had his own personal cabinet with a lock on it as well as one of the draws in the fridge. There was also a small fridge upstairs in his shared room where he kept his most important ingredients at.

He saw Cid stare down at the sandwich and swallow like he was trying to keep from drooling. The blue eyes floated back to him staring at him with amazement. "Didn't know a turkey sandwich could get this elaborate." He smiled and grabbed the sandwich taking a bite out of it. "Mmmm god damn fucking delicious!"

Vincent blushed at the compliment, a small smile lifting to his lips in spite of himself. Well at least one of his dreams was coming true. Cid was eating his food. Not just eating it, he was devouring it like it was the last thing he had on earth to eat. Vincent might have had two bites out of his own sandwich before he looked up to see Cid taking the last bite of his sandwich.

"Damn, Vinco, this is good!"

"Thanks," Vincent said wondering if he should even bother correcting the name anymore.

"If you keep cooking like that I might end up falling in love with ya." The eyes seemed so bright to him that he thought he could lose himself in them.

"I wouldn't mind it," Vincent said under his breath before he blinked. Crap…what did he just say? Cid was looking at him funny again. Damn it, he didn't need to mess this up. He was lucky to be allowed this close to the man. There was no reason to chase him away with his obsession with him.

"Hm?" Cid was staring at him. "What'd you say, Vinco?"

"…Nothing," Vincent said getting up from the table and heading over to the cabinet. "Would you like some water?"

"Yeah that's fine." He glanced back watching how Cid was eyeing his sandwich like he wanted more of it. "Some beer would be better but I'm sure you don't have any of that here."

"I don't," Vincent said coming back over to the table and setting the two glasses of water down. "…Did you want half?"

"Huh?" Cid looked up at him blinking before he started to grin. "Ya serious? You gonna give me half of that bad boy?"

"I'll end up having to test taste in class anyway. I need to save the space."

"Sounds like you really like cooking, huh?" Cid's eyes practically salivated over the half of the sandwich placed on his plate.

"Not really…" Vincent said choosing his words carefully. "Just for someone special."

"Someone special huh?" Cid swallowed the mouthful in his mouth and took a swig of the water before he looked up at Vincent with a smirk. "Talkin about that girl you mentioned earlier?"

"…Something like that, yes." Well it wasn't like he ever officially admitted to it being a girl. But whatever seemed to rock Cid's boat. "But moving past that," Vincent set both his hands down on the table staring down at the blonde whom he hovered over now. "If you want, I can cook lunch for you …it'll be good practice." He tacked the last part of that on, taking care to not make the whole situation seem too awkward even if he was starting to look down at his sandwich in embarrassment.

"Really? You'd do something like that for me?" Cid hadn't stopped grinning since he'd taken a bite of the sandwich. "Hell, it's definitely better than that crap they serve at the dining hall." He pulled out his phone, something that made Vincent lift a brow up in curiosity. "What's your phone number?"

"…." Everything was advancing pretty swiftly in his opinion. He hadn't even realized he gave out the number out of reflex until he saw Cid close up the phone.

"Alright then, do you need help cleaning up?"

"No…I have everything taken care of here."

"Alright." Cid grinned standing from the table. "See ya around, Vinco."

"….Vincent."

"Hm?" Cid blinked and turned around looking at him. "What's that?"

"Vincent…" he repeated turning his red eyes up to look at Cid, and swallowing slightly at how strongly the blue eyes seemed to be watching him. "My name. It's Vincent. Vincent Valentine."

"…Vincent, huh?" Somehow the smile on Cid's lips turned more genuine after that. "Then I'll see you later, Vincent." And just like that he was gone, disappearing out of the kitchen and off to whatever it was he had to do for himself. And Vincent couldn't help staring after him before he sank back down to the chair finally starting to feel the effects of disbelief in his body. He'd talked to Cid. He'd actually talked to him and gotten him to eat his food.

Vincent couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face as he stared down at his half eaten sandwich. The guy was amazing, more amazing than he'd expected. He'd even asked to have Vincent's phone number…granted he wasn't into guys. But at least he was willing to hang out with Vincent. He frowned as he looked down at his phone. He forgot to get Cid's phone number in return. Great…meant he'd have to wait for the other to call him first. It wasn't like he had many numbers in his phone in the first place. Just his mom, Zack, and…well that was it. He seriously needed to make more friends.

TBC…

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That's it for part 2. Working on Part 4 while 3 is in the proofing stage.


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: I enjoyed this part. XD

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Culinary Boy 03

His culinary class finished before he knew it. He found himself walking out with about six things of wrapped up brownies. Strange how he wasn't really into eating sweets even though he cooked them. He knew that Zack would take care of it when he got back, both he and Cloud. He never would have taken Cloud to have such a sweet tooth. He was about as bad as Zack when it came to the snacks Vincent brought back.

Honestly, Vincent was glad that the class was over. He'd spent most of it going into a daze and had to catch himself several times from mixing ingredients wrong. He had Cid on the brain, like an addiction in his bloodstream. He could still see the happiness reflected there when Cid first got a taste of his cooking. It didn't compare to the look he'd only ever imagined. Even better, Cid had asked for his phone number. Not that he was going to go running around squealing like some chicken with its head cut off.

He just wasn't the type to show his happiness no matter how much he might feel it on the inside. No one seemed to take notice of the internal change going on inside of him. So honestly, he couldn't say he'd given himself away about his thundering heart. No one said his cheeks looked flush. No one said he looked like a man in love. He wasn't giggling like a school girl nor was he flaunting his chest like a school boy. He was still just being himself, for better or for wor-

"There's something different about this brownies."

"…What?" Vincent frowned looking over at Zack who was lying on his back. He had a small frown as well as he looked up at Vincent still chewing on the brownie in his mouth.

"I said there's something different about these brownies."

"…Like what?" What did he do wrong? He hadn't changed anything from last time. The same ingredients with the same number of eggs, same cup of water, and everything else needed. It hadn't changed since he'd left home. So what could be wrong with it?

"Like…I don't know…different." Zack shrugged at he took another bite of it. "Almost like you're adding something more to it." But he wasn't adding anything else to it.

"It doesn't taste bad though," Cloud said from the bunk above Zack, his legs dangling off the side as he finished eating his share of brownie. "Actually, it tastes even better than usual."

"Yeah, that!" Zack grinned at him. "It's like…I don't know, like you have this secret ingredient that you added to the mix. It just makes it taste more…yummy."

"…I don't understand." Vincent frowned staring down at the brownie. He'd test tasted it after he cooked it. It had tasted the same to him. What could be different? "I haven't added anything new to the mix at all."

"…The power of love?" Vincent stared at Cloud like a deer caught in headlights. What did love have to do with making desserts? No, more important than that. Did Cloud know what was going on inside Vincent's head? Why would he even suggest something like that unless he did?

There was a brief moment of silence after Cloud said the words before Zack burst into laughter. "Seriously, Cloud? Love? Do you really think someone like Vincent would feel anything for well…anything?" Vincent frowned. He wasn't that antisocial.

"I-I'm not saying it has to be a person," Cloud spoke up quickly, looking at Vincent as if trying to change the words. "I mean…how do I explain it? Maybe a good grade in class?"

"Dude, really. Vincent always gets good grade." Zack smirked looking up at Cloud as he peeked his head out. "Try again."

"Finding a lost kitten?"

"Why are we analyzing me?" Vincent cut in not letting the game go on longer for his own comfort's sake. "Apparently something must have slipped into the mix and caused it to taste differently." Vincent opened up his miniature fridge before he grunted seeing that his favorite juice was missing. "I'm going out to the store. Don't wait up."

"Get some milk too?" Zack said rolling over and focusing his blue eyes on Vincent. "I don't want to eat dry cereal in the morning."

"I'll think about it," Vincent said not even listening to Zack's protesting as he went out closing the door behind him and glad to escape the pressure put on him. Of course he'd get the milk. He wasn't mean even if he seemed to act like it. He just wasn't a people person. Was that so wrong? Granted females seemed to like that kind of personality from him. He wasn't sure why that was the case but it was.

The phone buzzed in his pocket and he blinked before pulling it free and looking at it. He wasn't even five minutes away from the dorms. Was Zack trying to give him a list or something?

Cid: Yo, this is Cid. How's it going?

Vincent blinked then blushed staring down at the screen. Right…he did give Cid his phone number didn't he? He'd never gotten a number in return but now with the text, he had the number right in front of him. Each number seemed precious to him, perfect in their own way. Then he thought about the fact that Cid was waiting on a response and slowed down staring down at the screen. The hesitation showed in his shaking fingers. Should he respond to him? Well obviously. Cid had asked him a question right?

Cid: Hello? This is Vincent right? Or maybe you're sleeping now or somethin.

Vincent: I'm here…

Vincent frowned before he started typing more not wanting to leave such a boring response.

Vincent: I'm just on my way to the store.

Nothing else followed the text for a moment. Staring down at the screen, Vincent kept walking. What was taking so long for the reply? The phone buzzed again making him stop in place and look down quickly staring at the words. He swore his eyes got wide as he looked at them, his cheeks reddening a little bit with happiness.

Cid: You don't mind if I go with you, do ya? Kinda need ta pick up some cigs.

It took effort to keep the phone from falling from his hand in shock. Really? Cid wanted to hang out with him? No, he was reading too much into it. Cid just wanted to get some cigarettes. There was no way Cid wanted to just hang out with him for platonic reasons.

Vincent: If you want to.

Cid: Sweet!

The reply was so quick Vincent didn't know what to make of it.

Cid: I'll meet you in front of the dorms then?

Vincent looked back at the school nodding to the air before he shook his head and quickly typed in a quick ok. It wasn't possible to stop his heart from thumping so fast in his chest. It felt like they were going on a date, not that he'd dated before. Then again, it wasn't like this was a date. Cid wouldn't like him like that anyway.

He was nervous but tried not to show it by leaning himself back against the wall like he was waiting. He was only wearing his casual clothes, granted they were pretty dark, dark enough that people mistook him for being Goth quite a few times. He liked his looks though, his style of being tall and dark. His was bundled up in his red jacket to fight off the chill of the night time air. He even had a red scarf wrapped around his neck to hide from the chilly wind trying to blow across the skin. It was getting dark, which made sense since it was like nine at night.

So it felt like it'd been twenty minutes though it'd only been about five when he heard the steps of heavy boots coming towards the dorm entry. Cid stepped out looking around looking all cozy in his brown, zipped up leather jacket. He had his goggles squished up on his head his blond hair back. It was something Vincent always found himself staring at, always wanting to know the story about those goggles or why Cid always wore the worn jacket he was currently wearing, even going so far as to tie it around his waist during warm weather.

Yeah…Vincent really needed to control his stalker like habits. Cid looked around for a minute, frowning as he searched for Vincent before he found him and a grin broke out on his face. It even looked like his eyes had lit up at the sight of him, though that must have been Vincent's imagination.

"There you are," Cid said walking up to him. Staring up at him like this nice, he just seemed so much younger, even with the tattling signs of stubbles growing on his chin; something Vincent was becoming more and more fascinated with. "You ready to go?"

"Uh…yeah." Vincent swallowed looking away as he started to walk pulling his jacket around him more. His lips were hidden behind the red scarf but it at least didn't muffle his voice when he tried to talk. Cid didn't say anything in return as he walked beside him. He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket pulling out his box of cigarettes and paused as he pulled one out slipping it between his lips. Vincent stopped with him turning around to stare at Cid, watching how skillfully he used the light and hid the end of the cigarette behind a hand to light it up. It turned successful when the tip of the cigarette glowed red and smoke started billowing up towards the sky.

The blue eyes shot up to his suddenly freezing Vincent in place as he was caught staring. They didn't look away either, staring deep into his own red ones before he glanced away uncomfortably, tugging at his scarf to pull it up to his nose. Well that was embarrassing.

"Sorry," Cid said starting to walk making Vincent subconsciously walk with him. "With the school's stupid fucking rule about smoking in the dorms, I gotta take advantage of this moment." Vincent gave a nod staying silent. There was something about the way Cid had looked at him that had his blood running on high. He thought he could still feel the heat in his cheeks. "So what are you heading to the store for? More supplies?"

"…For juice," Vincent said being careful not to look over at him again. "I'm buying some juice...and some milk for my roommate."

"Damn, you have the pushy roommates too?"

"…Not really," Vincent said frowning. "He used to go to Chocobo High too."

"Really?" The excitement in Cid's voice made Vincent look over at him catching sight of the grin on the daredevil lips. "Sweet, you're giving me some high hopes about this school. Who's your roommate?"

"Zack Fair," Vincent said easily pushing the name out. He could call Zack his best friend since the guy was the only one he'd been friends with before. That wasn't to say that Zack didn't have a following of friends himself. He was a popular guy back at Chocobo High. And he probably was here at the college as well. Granted Vincent really could care less. It wasn't Zack's life story he wanted to know about. He wanted to know more about Cid.

"Sounds familiar," Cid said slowly as if trying to imagine him. He tilted his head back, smoke seeping between his cracked lips as he thought about it. "Guy with black spikey hair like a chocobo's?"

"That's right," Vincent said nodding his head. Guess everyone knew Zack as much as they knew Cid. "We've been…together for a while." He blinked thinking about the words before he amended them. "Just as friends!" Why did he need to add that in?

Cid chuckled. "Good. I don't think I like the idea of sharing your meals with someone else. I get jealous like that." Vincent almost tripped over his feet at the words. Had that been flirting? No, it couldn't have…because Cid just wanted the food, right? "Looks like our stop."

Vincent looked up at the little corner market receiving only the bright lights of the interior in return. "Looks that way." Cid took his cigarette smothering it up against the brick siding of the store's wall before taking a deep breath looking up at Vincent once more. He sure did seem to like to look at people a lot.

"Let's head in then. It's too fucking cold out here to be just standing around like two idiots." Oh he could agree on that. He was doing everything in his willpower to not fold his arms for contained heat and look like a wimp in front of his fellow college student. The two of them made their way inside, Vincent only pausing to grab a carry cart before moving again. He'd expected to see Cid split up from him to get his loving cigarettes but was surprised to find the guy still following him around. "So who are your other roommates? They go to Chocobo High too?"

It wasn't an unusual question. Unless you were just that lucky, everyone roomed with like two or three other people. He just got lucky that it was just him, Zack, and Cloud at the moment. But that wasn't to say they wouldn't get another roommate soon. "I only have one other roommate," Vincent said stopping by the juice section. Sure, he could probably just learn to make his own juice but sometimes he did like being on the lazy side. "His name's Cloud Strife." Yeah, it took a while for him to remember that last name.

"Oh the blond kid!" Cid said. "Yeah, I have him in my fucking literature class. Can't say I like that damn class for anything." Vincent perked up at the words. Literature was a strong point for him. This could work in his advantage.

"Is it hard?"

"It's more like…it's boring," Cid said grumbling, his eyes flickering down to the juice in Vincent's hand. "I'd rather be making a toy model then reading some stupid shit about a gay ass guy who wants to sleep with some damn skinny, no tits broad that says weird shit and wears some damn, balls hugging tights."

"…You mean Romeo and Juliet?"

"Yeah that!" He seemed glad to know that Vincent knew what he was talking about. Though Vincent honestly had no problem with any of Shakespeare's works. Maybe he was just too old fashion to hate that kind of thing. "And not just that one. That one story Mcbay."

"Macbeth?"

"Yeah and um, fucking…A letter."

"The Scarlet Letter…" Vincent blinked looking up at him finding those true blue eyes coming up to meet his own. "You…really don't like reading do you?"

"Heh? It's not the reading that's the problem!" Cid said sounding offended as he glared at him with the smallest hint of red in his cheeks from embarrassment. He looked cute like that. "It's not my fault they like doing all that thou and shalt and using words I've never even heard of." Vincent couldn't help the small chuckle of laughter that escaped from his lips.

"It's not as bad as you think it is," Vincent said still laughing as he grabbed the milk putting it into the basket next. "It just takes a bit of experience to figure out what they mean."

"This is the first time since I met you that I've ever seen you laugh." Vincent turned around to look at him and froze finding the other staring at him. It was something in his eyes that made the smile that was still on his face from the laughter drop instantly. He cleared his throat looking away quickly to hide his embarrassment, pulling his scarf up to cover his lips before he bit them. "Oh come on, there's no need to go shutting yourself away." A hand slammed down against his back toppling him off balance before he righted himself looking over again and seeing the small grin on Cid's face. "It's a compliment. I think you should smile more too."

"I…I see…" He didn't give him a better answer than that as he started walking. Seriously, what was he going to say to that anyway? "You just need to pick up some cigarettes, right?" He led them in that direction.

"Yeah. The moogle pack. Cause I swear the rest of them taste like shit." Cid was walking beside him again. Vincent gave him a nod even if he had no idea what Cid was talking about. He'd never smoked. Hell he'd never drank before either even if they were still on the young side. But this was usually around the age that people went out and snuck into bars and got themselves drunk and put in jail and stuff. He was starting to wonder if Cid ever drank. Heck, he was wondering if Cid had a girlfriend. He hadn't seen any around the male before but that didn't stop the rumors Vincent heard from getting to him.

Cid tossed the pack into the basket leaving them only to make their way up to the register. Vincent sat the two drinks up first and hesitated before putting the cigs up as well. He was old enough to pay for them, he was sure of that. After the items were rang up, Vincent started to pull out his wallet when he looked over seeing Cid handing the cashier both his driver's license and his check card.

"What are you -"

"Paying you back," Cid said getting his stuff back as he picked up the bags. "Hell, it's nothing compared to that awesome meal you made me." He doubted he could hide the flush in his cheeks at the words. He tried reaching for one of the bags but Cid pulled it out of reach still grinning at him.

"You didn't have to!" Vincent said a little louder, feeling his heart thundering in his chest. "It's not that…you really didn't need to…I-I'll pay you back!" Vincent reached his back pocket pulling out his wallet and started to pull out some cash. When he looked up again Cid was already heading out the door easily leaving the flustered Vincent to stare after him in shock. "Cid, wait!"

Cid paused right outside waiting for the ebony haired male to run up to him before a small smile lifted to his lips. "Wow, first time I've ever heard you say my name since we met." There was a look of wonderment in his eyes, a look Vincent tried to ignore as he took his cash holding it out to Cid. The blond just looked at it before he turned walking away. "I told you don't worry about it. Besides, it's just some fucking juice and milk. It's not like I just bought you a Mercedes or something."

"…E-Even so…" Vincent moved quickly to follow after him. "You shouldn't just dismiss my offer to pay you back." He reached out about to put the money into Cid's pocket before a freed hand came up to grab his wrist startling him and forcing his widening red eyes to look up catching the angry look in Cid's eyes. Why did he have to look so mad? It made Vincent's heart stop. This wasn't how he wanted this to go. The last thing he wanted was to have Cid infuriated with him. He'd seen it before, seen Cid get angry with people. It wasn't pretty.

"Then the fucking same goes to you," Cid said. There was no wavering in those blue eyes that Vincent felt like were trying to burn a hole into his soul. "Just fuckin' except that I fuckin' wanted to do something goddamn nice for you." Cid finally let the wrist go as he grumbled and turned around, his shoulders starting to relax before he spoke again. "I like you." Vincent tensed up at the words. "So I'd like to think we could be friends or something. So just except that I wanted to fucking pay for it because you're my friend."

"…Cid…" Vincent blushed staring at his back, his cheeks reddening even more when he saw the blue eyes peeking over a shoulder at him before Cid grinned at him. "I…want to be your friend too." That was a lie. He wanted more than that. But if this was as close as he'd get, then he'd accept it. Not all things in life could be perfect right?

"That's the spirit!" Cid said. He sat the items down and pulled out the new pack of cigarettes, slipping one between his lips and lighting it up before he looked over at Vincent again. "Let's get back before it gets any fucking later. I'm tired."

"Fine," Vincent said bending down and picking up the bags before Cid could protest. "But I'm carrying these then…since you're my friend." Cid stared up at him in surprise before the grin appeared on his lips again circling around the cancer stick stuck between his lips.

"Fine, you mother fucker. But don't think I won't pay you back for that." He laughed to soften the blow of his words moving to start walking beside Vincent again as they headed back. Vincent couldn't stop himself from smiling and glancing Cid's way every so often. Even if they were just friends, he couldn't help himself from secretly fantasizing that he was on a date with the man of his dreams.

TBC…

And I…actually really enjoyed writing this chapter. x.x And the next one too but you'll just have to wait for that one. :D Hope you all enjoyed the update.


	4. Chapter 4

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: I also enjoyed this part too.

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Culinary Boy 04

He felt like he was in a dream world, as if he were sleeping and everything that had conspired was only a figment of his imagination. Even though he was resting in his bed the next day staring up at the empty bunk above him, he swore it had all been a dream. The smell of Cid's cigarettes, the way Cid would smile at him, the bright glow of those ever searching eyes. Everything that happened, the whole walk in the cold or the fact that Cid had actually said he liked him. Yes, that was the kicker that got him. Cid liked him. Maybe not in the dating sense, but at least it was a good sign that they could at least be close friends.

He remembered the cheer in Cid's voice on their way back as he talked about his hobbies like the small model plane he was creating for his modeling class called the Tiny Bronco. He spoke about it like it was his special pet, giving every little detail into the designs and the engine. He wasn't just making a model. He was making a full blown functioning plane. Vincent listened to all of it, inputting words ever so often or sometimes just staying silent except for a small hum in response.

But it was nice, despite the cold. They'd even stood outside the dorm to talk some more, giving Cid plenty of time to get another smoke in and Vincent time to savior this little bit of time together they had left. It was probably about ten o' clock when the two of them split up after an exchange of room numbers. Turned out Cid was actually directly in the room right below them, similar room numbers with one digit changed thanks to the floor they each lived on.

The thought made Vincent blush wondering if Cid was probably lying in bed now too. He wondered what it was the older male was thinking about right now. It was probably his Tiny Bronco. But it didn't hurt to pretend that Cid might be thinking about him. Curling on his side, he looked across from him at the other bunk. The two beds were empty considering that it was Friday and Zack and Cloud both had classes to get to.

Vincent, thankfully only had one class to worry about on Fridays, and that wasn't until three o' clock where he'd have to go to literature class. It was another no brainer for him, something Zack always whined about. Vincent just excessed when it came to school. He couldn't help it. Now if it was a gym class then he'd have some problems. Then again, just going to watch Cid jogging in those tight shorts or lifting weights and showing off those hidden muscles was worth it.

The knock at the door startled him from his thoughts. He pulled himself from the bed stretching a bit giving a grunt against leaving the warmth of his blankets as the chill in the air seemed to hit him pretty quickly. It must have been one of Zack's many friends coming to see if he was in. But then again they should know he had classes by now, right?

Vincent scratched at his head for a second before he unlocked the door opening it up. The blue eyes were the first thing he saw staring back at him before his eyes followed down to the slightly moist lips that seemed to split open into a grin when the man started to speak.

"Hey, guess I was right to think you didn't have an early class today!"

"C-Cid?!" Vincent half hid himself behind the door feeling more than a little indecent in the small boxers and white t-shirt he usually wore to bed. He tried to think of it like any other situation, where he just didn't care because they were just a bunch of men sharing a room. But this was Cid. Cid fucking Highwind. He didn't want to be flaunting his goods around for the young blond to see. "…What are you doing here?" He hoped to Shiva that his cheeks weren't as red as he felt like they were.

"Wanted to see if you wanted to come down and check out the Tiny Bronco," he said it while he was pointing back towards where the stairs were. His eyes took everything in stride, going from Vincent's face on down to where his body seemed to curve behind the door hiding everything from the waist and below. "I uh…didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?" He lifted a brow staring up at him as he rubbed behind his head. "Not jacking one off are you?"

"N…No…" There was no fighting the blush now. "Just, give me one second to get dressed." At Cid's quick nod, he closed the door leaning against it tiredly. What kind of turn of events was this? Sure, he was ecstatic about the fact that Cid wanted to spend more time with him, but did he really need to come right now while Vincent was still launching around lazily in PJs? Cid, Cid, Cid. Why did Cid do this to his brain and turn him into a messy glob of nerves?

He took a deep breath to calm himself, going over to his dresser and fishing out a pair of jeans and a more decent shirt to take the place of the one he was currently wearing. Jeans easily fit over the short boxers and he zipped up before slipping on the freshly cleaned t-shirt. It only took a few minutes to slip on some socks and sneakers and brush out his hair before he was at the door again opening it up. Cid perked up from his spot beside the door, offering out a smile to him.

"So ready to head down?" Vincent gave him a nod before the two of them started for the stairs. "I see your roommates are out today, huh? Classes?" Cid glanced over at him when he asked.

"Yeah," Vincent said fighting off his nervousness as he walked beside the short blond. "They have morning classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I just have one class those days."

"Interesting." Cid nodded his head taking everything into account. "What class you got today?"

"Literature," Vincent said giving a barely noticed nod of greeting to a couple of guys walking past them. "Then I usually go by the cooking hall to practice some bakery."

"Interesting times two," Cid said grinning. "My fucking literature class is the same days too. Fucking three o'clock."

"Same here." Vincent blinked staring over at Cid. Same classes but different teachers. If he'd only been lucky enough to pick the right one, he'd be in the same class with Cid.

"So how about after class, we meet up?" Cid stopped in front of the door to his room looking up at Vincent. "It gives me a chance to check out the cooking hall and I can test taste the goods you bake."

"It's going to be boring," Vincent said staring at him trying not to be swallowed up by the sparkle of blues. "There's a lot of time and patience needed for this."

"What the fuck you think I need for mechanics?" Cid said laughing. "Fuck, I'd pull my hair out if I didn't damn well need it. Damn thing with all those fucking tiny screws. It takes a hell of a lot of patience."

Vincent found himself relaxing more as he smiled at him in return. It was getting real easy to smile it seemed. Though he noticed he really only ever did it around Cid. Maybe because to him Cid was something special?

"Fine then," Vincent said. "Don't whine when you start falling asleep from boredom."

"Honestly, I just don't think I can get bored around you." He said the words so seriously, that it made the smile drop from Vincent's face as he tried to figure out what the words meant. But he didn't get the time to analyze it fully as the door was opened and Cid burst inside yelling with his bellowing voice. "You fuckers get the hell off my bed!"

"Hello to you too, sweetheart." Sweetheart? Vincent frowned following Cid into the room catching sight of the two roommates that were practically lying all over what must have been Cid's bed. The two of them were staring at the TV looking like they were in the midst of a very extreme fighting game.

Cid stopped when he was beside the bed turning around to look at Vincent as he gestured his hand out towards the two dominating his space. "Vincent, meet the Jackasses. Jackasses, this is Vincent."

"Hey hey, what the hell kind of greeting is that, yo?" The game paused as the male with red hair lifted his lazy eyes up to look at Vincent's face. He almost looked like he'd just woken up from a really good nap. Did he always look like this? "Name's Reno, yo." He pointed a thumb over to the man launching beside him. "This here is Rude. Nice to finally meet the great Vinco that douchebag here's been talking about. You two dating yet?" He seemed to grin when he saw the embarrassment coming over Vincent's face. Gladly, Cid saved him from having to give an answer to that question.

"His name's Vincent, you fuckhead."

"Says the dumbass that got his name wrong the first time, yo." The bald male named Rude chuckled at the insult before the two of them started playing again.

"I swear you fuckers…."

"So he convinced you to come see that dumb plane of his?" Reno asked, not pulling his eyes away from the TV again. "He might as well just call it his girlfriend."

"I ain't got time for you pricks right now." He grumbled under his breath before turning his eyes to Vincent. Whether he took note of Vincent's discomfort or not wasn't notice as he gestured to the top bunk of the bed. "There she is. She's a beaut even if she is incomplete." Vincent cut his eyes away from his crush, looking up to the top bunk where he could just barely see the propellers. It was a rather large size but seemed like it'd be easy to get through the room door. There were wirings and other miscellaneous things hanging out of her interior like Cid was still constructing her insides. "Haven't gotten her to run yet, but I can tell I'm getting close."

"It looks good, Cid." It looked like the real thing minus the metal was still unpainted. He could tell he put a lot of time and detail into it, from the lights on the front to the little person sitting on the inside like he was the pilot. In fact the pilot almost looked like a miniature Cid.

"Ya think so?" Vincent glanced down at him and swore it looked like Cid was blushing. But he looked proud of his work and happy for the compliment that it seemed he rarely got from anyone. How could they not compliment such hard work? He had every thought in his mind that Cid would succeed with this. "I'm working on making it run off solar power. That way I ain't gotta worry about the whole needing gas issue and shit."

"I'm looking forward to seeing the finished work," Vincent said touching the precious metal gently. He missed the look of surprise that passed over Cid's face or the way that look changed into something else altogether. "Breakfast?"

"Hm?" Cid blinked shoving his hands into his pockets. "You cook breakfast too?"

"Yeah," Vincent said. "Nothing big." Hell sometimes he didn't feel like making stuff from scratch. It took a lot of time and work and sometimes a few nights of sitting in the fridge that he didn't feel like being bothered with. "Just pancakes and eggs this morning."

"Hell, I'm game," Cid said grinning as he walked with Vincent to the door.

"Vincent, if you keep spoiling him like that, he's going to start thinking that you're his house wife," Rude said keeping his eyes on the TV as well. If he only knew how happy his words made Vincent feel inside. Minus the wife part of it, being there to cook every day for Cid would be a dream come true for him.

"Not like Cid has a girlfriend anyway, yo," Reno said shrugging his shoulders. "Let him have his fun."

"Hey for your information, I do have a girlfriend!" Cid yelled back pointing at the two of them. "And you two better not mess with her sweet body while I'm gone either!"

"Don't worry, we won't touch your girl," Reno said grinning. The three of them burst into laughter leaving Vincent completely clueless to what was going on. Did Cid have a girlfriend or were they referring to the plane still? It was getting hard to figure out. He'd have to learn the answer another time. Right now he had some breakfast he needed to make.

But even though the two headed down to the kitchen, he spent the whole time thinking about it even through breakfast. He seriously hoped it was the plane. The last thing he needed was to be glaring every time the girl of Cid's dream came by to see him. Ugh, he'd probably just hide in a corner somewhere if that happened. It sure beat having to deal with some annoying woman trying to befriend him while he was busy fawning after her boyfriend.

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Literature class couldn't end quicker for him. Vincent swore it was the first time he found himself tearing out of his chair to be the first one out the door. He received a few weird looks from the others in his class but they were ignored in favor of meeting up with Cid. And just as he expected, Cid was just coming out of his classroom when he looked up and smiled heading in Vincent's direction.

He lifted up his hand to wave and the timing couldn't be more wrong as Cloud came out of the classroom as well, happening to see the wave as he started to head over too thinking Vincent wanted to talk to him. Well, it wasn't like he was inviting him to eat more snacks or anything. Besides, he really did like Cloud. He was nowhere near as peppy as Zack was. And it was only fair that he introduce Cid to his roommate like he'd met the blonde's.

"Cid," Vincent said waiting until he was closer before he gestured to blond with his spikey hair. "I want you to meet my roommate, Cloud. He's good friends with Zack."

"Nice meeting ya," Cid said holding out his hand.

"Likewise." Cloud grabbed his hand in return giving it a shake before he lifted questioning eyes towards Vincent.

"He goes to my chemistry class." Cloud's eyes seemed to light up at that moment. Whether a good thing or not, Vincent found himself frowning. "He also used to go to my old high school."

"Ah, so he probably knows Zack then." The understanding shined in those eyes making Vincent question what Cloud was seeing here. But then he was walking away waving his hand over his shoulder at the two of them. "Sorry for running off. Zack and I are supposed to be working on a class project."

"So, off to the cooking hall?" Cid said turning to look at Vincent not even giving Cloud time to get away before he was saying it.

"Yeah," Vincent said sighing and glancing back catching sight of a few girls giggling and watching him. He was happy that it was only about three of them today. With two popular guys like this, it was bound to be worse later. The girls always knew he went to cook on his time off. They waited for it then begged for the sweets afterwards after he made them.

"A little stalkerish, aren't they?" Cid said glancing back seeing some of the girls peeking around a corner of the building after them.

"I'm used to it," Vincent said keeping his stride. It was like second nature, this attention he didn't want. He hated it at first, but now it was just second nature, something he'd grown accustom to. As long as they didn't touch him or do anything to him, he didn't care. He still had the safety of the dorms to rely on should he need the escape.

Cid continued following after him all the way into the room where they closed the door. It took the simple act of closing up all the windows to give them the privacy he wanted with Cid. He tried not to think about the idea that they were closed in a room together. Instead he pulled out pots and classroom ingredients, going about making the mixture for the cupcakes he was going to make. Flour, eggs, and milk along with vanilla extract, butter, and sugar were all he needed for this basic part of the cake creation. While he was setting up the pans and turning on the oven to preheat it, he was surprised that his fingers didn't shake. Cid was watching his every move, like it was some kind of TV cooking show. He doubted the blond was actually keeping track of everything he did.

He watched through the combining, the mixing, and even through the pouring before they were stuck inside of the oven. It was a little quiet for Vincent's taste but he kept his focus on cleaning up all the dishes while he waited for the cupcakes to bake.

"You're really good at that."

"Hm?" Vincent looked up at Cid, arms covered in suds from the soapy water in the sink.

"At the whole baking thing and shit." Cid gestured in general to the kitchen. "Hell, I can't even cook two pieces of toast without burning the whole house down."

"It's really not that hard," Vincent said rinsing out the bowl before he started up drying it. "I can probably teach you how someday." He hadn't really expected the answer that came in response to his words.

"Really? You'd do that?" Vincent glanced over, sitting the bowl down staring at the blue eyes that were watching him. In that moment, he felt like the most amazing person in Cid's eyes, the look of complete amazement igniting a spark to Vincent's heart. But then again maybe he was just imagining that look. It could have just been the play of the lights hitting Cid's eyes.

"Yeah…" The word came out slowly from his lips as he frowned slightly looking at the sink again. Why was he torturing himself like this? Having this unreal dream of Cid being interested in him? Like Cid would give the time of day towards a guy when he could have himself any pretty college girl in the school. They liked smart guys…and so did he. Or at least this particular one anyway.

The blaring sound of the oven's timer going off startled him before he moved quickly. The cupcakes came out popping hot, smoke easily seen wafting off the tops of the golden brown crust. He removed them from the baking tray setting them to the side to let them cool. He had a feeling that Zack and Cloud would have a field day with these. But he wondered if Cid wanted to take some back for his own roommates as well. There certainly were plenty of them.

"Damn this is fucking scrumptious!" Vincent looked over at the outburst blushing watching Cid down about half the cake in one go.

"W-Wait! You need to let it cool first then we need to-"

"It's fine," Cid said around a mouthful of cake before he ate the rest of it. He swallowed with a loud gulp, his mouth opening with a very satisfied sigh before he looked over at Vincent. "The best way to fucking taste something is in its basic form." He'd never heard a saying like that before. It made sense, at least when it came to foods like this. Wasn't it best to make sure the cake tasted good itself before smothering it in creamy flavors? What if it was too sugary? The icing would just be overkill.

Vincent wasn't a really big sweets person himself, but the class demanded it. He knew how to make cakes and other sweet things thanks to making them for his younger siblings. Was he not testing his foods enough? What kind of chef would he be if he were unwilling to taste the foods he created, to not just say "this is cake" but to truly say "this is my creation."

Looking down at the rows of mini cakes, he reached down randomly grabbing one and started pulling away the wrapping. With the mildly cooled cake in hand he leaned down and took a bite. Like a marching band gone mad, the flavors danced across his tongue in perfect symphony. He didn't think it was possible to taste just about every flavor there was. There was the hint of butter along with the flavor of vanilla extract and sweet sweet sugar.

Cloud's words from yesterday rushed through his head as he looked down at the cupcake. He'd said it tasted differently, like there was something added to it. And now that he tasted it again, it was different. Not overly noticeable, and not a bad kind of different but it was there. But what was the change? What could make these sweets come out tasting even…sweeter?

"You must really like that girl," Cid said grabbing another cupcake as he started eating it. "Damn things got a lot of love put into them."

The cupcake slipped from Vincent's hand to the counter, but it went unnoticed as he stared at Cid, eyes looking like Cid just grew another head. "What?"

Cid shrugged his shoulder looking at the cupcake with a frown at the waste. "You know the fucking saying. You should always cook your food with love otherwise it will never reach perfection."

"L-Love? Cid, that's not…there's no way that's-"

"I mean you really like this girl, right?"

"Y…Yeah…" Gods…could his face burn any hotter than this?

"So that means you're doing everything in your power to make this stuff taste great. You're fucking beating the shit out of the batter, throwing in the perfect amount of fucking dash, and giving it damn perfect baking time. And you're using the power of your fuckin love to make it happen."

"Can we talk about something else?" Vincent said quickly, pulling his eyes away from the stare.

"Geez, you're so damn sensitive," Cid said grumbling. He had a cig between his lips, a sign that he was ready to go and to get a smoke in. "I hope the fucker knows how lucky a son of a bitch they are to get to eat your food."

"I think they do," Vincent said in reply. They lapsed into a silence as Vincent put the cupcakes away in two separate containers giving one of them to Cid. He'd take the other one back for Zack and Cloud to eat on. He was about to pick up the dropped cupcake only to have it snatched out of his hands by Cid.

He couldn't even stop him, staring at him with widening eyes as Cid took a bite out of the cupcake. It was like receiving an indirect kiss and it was killing Vincent's poor virgin soul. He was surprised he didn't pass out when Cid looked over at him and smiled with a wink of his eye.

"Can't let this bad boy go to waste, right?"

"Yeah…"Vincent swallowed watching him before quickly grabbing up his container heading for the door. He tried to get the image of Cid licking his lips clean out of his head, blushing as he heard Cid moving around behind him. "We should head back. It's getting late."

He wasn't sure if Cid picked up on his discomfort or not but the rest of the way back to the dorms was a quiet one. It seemed uncomfortable to him, especially since he'd glance back to find Cid following him with a small frown on his face as he stared towards the ground, smoke billowing out from the lit cigarette. Was he contemplating something? Vincent wanted to ask but he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth. It seemed to happen so suddenly that it must have been because of him right?

When they got back to the dorms, Vincent stopped in front of the stairs leading up to their rooms and turned around looking at Cid. He saw the blue eyes look up at him confusion, so attentive that he almost lost his nerve to speak.

"Is…everything ok, Cid?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Why do you ask?" He really looked like he was curious.

Vincent glanced away. "You're just really quiet. I was wondering."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cid chuckled, the cig long gone from his lips. "Just trying to figure out how I can convince you to go with us tomorrow."

Vincent blinked lifting a brow. Go with them? "Go where and with whom?"

"Eh." Cid shrugged his shoulders. "The two jackasses upstairs like to go clubbing on Saturday nights. Figured I'd see if you wanted to join us since those two get drunk so quick it's boring."

"…I'm not sure…" He wasn't a big club goer, even if he had been forced to go with Zack and Cloud a few times now. Besides, wouldn't he be intruding on their fun? Like the fourth wheel? He wanted to ask how old Reno and Rude were to be able to get drunk at a club. They had to be at least twenty-one to even buy it, right?

"You can invite your roommates too if it'll help you feel more comfortable."

"…" Vincent sighed staring at the pleading eyes and finding it hard to say no to them. Besides, shouldn't he want to spend more time with his crush who didn't like him like that? "Fine. Just no drinking for me. I'm underage anyway."

"That's cool, same here," Cid said grinning. "Though I'm not going to lie and say I've never gotten drunk before but well…I'll save that story for another day." He chuckled and bounded past Vincent on up the steps. Vincent blinked before he followed him up, unable to keep his eyes from staring at Cid's ass. "So see you tomorrow, right?" Vincent's eyes quickly flickered up to Cid's eyes.

"Uh…yeah…" Vincent stopped beside him looking down the hallway. "Tomorrow."

"I'll call you once we're ready to leave," Cid said nursing the container of cupcakes to him. "So dress in your best club wear and leave your phone on, got it?" He didn't even wait on Vincent's response before he was heading for his room with a wave over his shoulder of farewell. Sighing, Vincent continued on to his own room to deliver his treats to his roommates and hopefully get a quick shower before he got some rest. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day and an even more fascinating night.

TBC….

That's it for this chapter. I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter. Considering that it's a club, you can expect there to be some hotness. XD


	5. Chapter 5

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: I also enjoyed this part too.

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Culinary Boy 05

His best club wear? He didn't even know what club wear consisted of. Of course he'd seen what Zack and Cloud wore to the club. Sometimes it was just simple jeans and a shirt, sometimes it was full blown colors, body paints, and a multitude of light sticks. He'd asked Zack about it once and had been told that it all depended on the club they were going to. It didn't matter what you wore for a regular club but if it was a rave then you needed to be all decked out in your best gear.

When he thought about it, he was surprised that Cloud, the silent guy that he was, actually went clubbing at all. He imagined him just sitting on a chair and pouting after being forced to join Zack. Poor guy, he really felt sorry for him now.

So Vincent spent part of the day finishing things he needed to get done, like his homework for his classes. He called his mother to check up on her and was happy to hear her voice on the phone along with the yelling of siblings in the background all trying to say hi to him at the same time. He missed his family. It was another motivating reason for why he wanted to be a chef. He'd be able to provide for his family with the income it'd offer him. Because having a single parent with three younger siblings wasn't very helpful in keeping food on the table. That's why he had to keep going, do his best to keep his scholarships and keep his mother from paying for his school. She was happy to hear from him and wished him well before he was off to finish his other tasks.

Now he was standing in front of his dresser and frowning down at his clothes. He didn't have anything spectacular to wear. Well there was a black turtle neck which wouldn't look odd seeing as it was the colder part of the year.

"You're not planning on wearing that turtle neck, are you?"

Vincent frowned glaring over at Zack who was staring at him like he was mad. "You have any idea how hot it's going to get inside that club?"

"I'm sure I can survive."

"Yeah sure." Zack hopped off his bed heading over to Vincent. "But really, are you going to be able to survive the sweat and funk of hundreds of bodies moving together to fast paced music?" His arm came up draping over Vincent's shoulders. "Trust me, you're taking this from a guy experienced with club life." Vincent sniffed but he didn't throw the arm away, staring down at the drawer. Then what the hell was he supposed to wear?

Vincent glanced back seeing Cloud lying on the top bunk looking at them through sleeping eyes like he'd just woken up from a nap. He probably did. There was a book lounged on his pillow that probably came from his literature class. Yeah Vincent did still have a chapter he needed to read. He'd finish it up tomorrow though. He had time and he was a fast reader.

"Seriously, Vincent, are all your clothes so saintly?" Vincent frowned looking at Zack who was filtering through his drawer.

"Sorry I don't like exposing my skin like some of you do."

"Well you're not getting anywhere with these dull clothes," Zack said smirking at him. "You're dressing to impress aren't you?" Dressing to impress? The words made him tense up as he stared at Zack trying to see if he could figure out what was being said there. Something was up. He knew from the smirk on Zack's face.

"…I don't know what you're insinuating."

"You're trying to catch someone's eye, someone that's going to be at that club otherwise you wouldn't be going and you know this so don't even try to dispute it." Vincent shut his mouth with a frown and risked looking over at him finding the eyes staring at him as if trying to read into his thoughts. He wasn't going to give him that satisfaction as he walked over to his bed and flopped down going with the ignoring treatment. "Either way, we're taking you out to buy some new outfits. Something that will bedazzle the dazzler." Bedazzle the dazzler? What did that even mean?

"Regardless of your attempts, I will not be dressed up like someone desperate for attention." There, he said it. He wasn't going to follow through with Zack's plan. He was going to wear what he wanted to wear and dress in the most, bland, generic, boring clothes he had possible. He was going to be sure to be the boring life of the party and sit in a corner and brood all night while watching Cid have fun with his friends. He was going to avoid all of the attention associated with being him, especially since his eyes always drew so much of it from people.

So why was he standing in front of Cid's door feeling like some floozy at a costume party? Hell, at least they usually got to wear a mask. Zack had found him some kind of…a shirt? This was a shirt, right? The front of it was made of red leather which was actually fine with him. It was the rest of the outfit, the sides and the back especially, that bothered him. While the front of it was covered with the red leather, it was the only part that actually covered his skin. Everything else was exposed thanks to the see through black mesh that made up the rest of the shirt. He did get his long sleeves, luckily, and found it strange that his forearms were the only other things covered in the red leather since everything else was also mesh.

Not to mention that Zack literally forced the black leather pants on him. He could barely even move in the thing. Even worse, red leather covered the butt of his pants and only seemed to draw more attention to it. He felt ridiculous. He'd been adorned with glowing bits of glow sticks and jewelry that made him feel like he was just a tall Christmas tree with ornaments.

Cloud played a part in his torture too, styling his hair and pulling it up into a high ponytail leaving bangs to cover over one of his red eyes. A look in the mirror made him feel like he was a woman, especially with the red eyeliner covering his lids. How was Cloud good at doing this anyway? No, he probably didn't want to know.

"So are you going to knock or just stand there looking pretty?" Zack was grinning at him when he said that. Oh he was doing this on purpose. And he looked pretty normal in his raving gear! Baggy black pants, tight leather shirt, glow sticks. Normal hair. Prick.

"Zack, I don't think you're helping his case at all." Cloud. Nice, dark blue vest. Black but way looser, leather pants. Perfectly normal hair for Cloud's standards. The Prick's accomplice.

"I'm not doing this ignorant thing," Vincent said turning to walk away. It was the plan anyway until one of them, probably Zack, loudly knocked on the door to announce their presence. Vincent turned with sharp eyes, glaring at Zack who only smirked in return before turning back to the door.

"Partygoers ready for a good time here! Let's go already!" Zack's yelling only drew more attention to their little ensemble as people that were in the hallway looked at them like they were nuts. Some looked frustrated as they peeked out of their rooms apparently not liking the interruption to…whatever it was they were doing. But for Vincent, it felt like he had all eyes on him. Whether he did or not he didn't know because he wasn't trying to see.

"Quit yelling like you fucking live in a barn!" Cid yelled out opening the door so suddenly that it startled the three of them waiting outside along with probably every other bystander. Vincent could see people rushing off towards other business vacating the little hallway space. It made him relax to not have so many people around though a part of him wondered what made them run away.

"That goes for you as well, loud mouth." Cid was pushed aside before Vincent had a chance to even look at him as Reno stepped out, giving them all a casual look over. "I'm taking it everyone's here, yo?" Really, Reno looked like he was made for raving. Granted he did have the thighs cut out in his pants and wore a full mesh shirt. But he didn't seem bothered by the exposure at all. Maybe because this was a normal wear for him on these nights?

"Right, let's get going before we miss out on some action." Rude came out next and Vincent narrowed his eyes in jealously. The man was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans. How did he get away with wearing that when Vincent was forced to bare his soul with his outfit? His glare went unnoticed as the two walked past him before Zack hit him on the shoulder ignoring the grunt that escaped his lips or how he almost fell off balance.

"Stop brooding like a party pooper and come on," Zack said grinning at him before both he and Cloud went off to follow the other two. He noticed Cloud looked back at him and seemed to give him a reassuring smile before he was gone down the steps with Zack. What had that been about? Sighing, Vincent started to follow after them before he paused realizing he hadn't seen Cid since Reno had pushed him aside so abruptly. He looked back behind him and felt his eyes widen as he saw Cid standing there looking at him from the doorway.

Vincent couldn't say anything, didn't know what to say as the eyes just kept staring into his own before gliding along his form. His heart was pounding so hard he thought he was going to die. And Cid hadn't said a word to him. Was he looking at the ridiculous outfit on him? If so then why wasn't he laughing? Or was he mad about something. Was he frustrated that he was going to be seen with a laughingstock instead of the usually, covered Vincent?

His outfit was in big contrast to Cid's who wore baggy black jeans with blue trimmings and a regular, but tight blue shirt that somehow seemed to detailed every part of Cid's chest. He was still wearing his goggles on his hair but it somehow seemed very fitting to him. It was the first time that Vincent was seeing him without his beloved jacket but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. And of course he had lights decorating him similar to how the rest of them did, including Vincent himself who wish he didn't have them.

"It…looks weird, I know," Vincent said casting his eyes away from the staring ones. He hadn't wanted to wear this getup in the first place. Why was he even here? He should have said no to the offer from the beginning and stayed up in his bed reading his homework and fantasizing about being with Cid. And why was the hallway so empty at a time like this? "I'll uh…I'll go change out of this. It won't take too long."

"It looks good on you." The words pulled Vincent away from beating himself up about it as he looked at Cid again finding a smile he wasn't used to seeing on such cursing lips being shared with him. Cid started walking towards him and he swore his whole body tensed up. He wasn't letting Vincent's eyes go, keeping their focus on him as he walked up to him. "Makes me a little jealous of the girl you're after." The words had come out low, but they were there, just past his ear as Cid walked past him for the steps.

It left Vincent a little dazed as he turned around staring at his fellow student's back and feeling all the heat rushing to his face. It couldn't have meant what it sounded like but it sure did seem that way. Cid couldn't be jealous, right? It wasn't like Cid liked him like that. He was probably just saying that so he wouldn't feel so…awkward. But it still warmed his heart to know that Cid did care and that he didn't think he looked like a complete douche. Even if he felt like one in this getup.

"Come on, Vincent! The fucking club's going to close before we get there at the rate we're going." Vincent looked up seeing Cid peeking up at him from the stairs and waiting on him before he nodded his head and rushed off to join him.

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When he said he wasn't the clubbing type, he really meant it. It had already been an hour and he'd spent most of it sitting at the table belonging to his group and listening to the few that were still there yapping on about whatever it was they talked about. They weren't so near the music that they had to yell over it to be heard. They all had some variation of sodas and juice, everyone but the two that were old enough to drink. Both Reno and Rude had wrist bands on signifying that they were definitely of the age to drink.

Reno had attracted the attention of two girls who were literally hanging off each arm as he sweet talked them. For Vincent, it was a little unnerving watching them rubbing their cleavages up against the man's arms fighting for his attention. Granted Vincent knew he wasn't into women himself, he couldn't deny that they were…large and attractive. And somehow even Rude had a cute girl talking to him before he'd split up from the group to follow her.

Zack was out on the dance floor somewhere amidst the hundreds of bodies moving together. It was only assumed that Cloud was with him since the other wasn't sitting at the table with them. Those two were so attached to the hip it sometimes made Vincent wonder if there was something more there.

"Well enough of the sausage fest," Reno said winking an eye at Vincent. "I'm off to have fun with the ladies, yo. So don't expect me to come back to the room tonight. You got that, yo?"

"Yeah yeah, I heard you mother fucker," Cid said grumpily from his side. Vincent risked a glance his way and was glad to see the eyes were focused on the red head and not on him. Since coming to the club, he'd found that every time he'd look at Cid he'd find the other staring back at him. It startled him, partly unnerved him because he couldn't read what the look meant. Was Cid dissatisfied with how he was dressed? Was he finding that Vincent was actually a boring person to hang out with? Maybe he wasn't really looking at him and his eyes were just in a daze.

But each time he'd look and their eyes would meet Cid would stare a bit longer than necessary before turning his eyes away. What did it mean? What was going through the blonde's mind? Reno pulled back from the table to stand before he was leaving out with his two guests. Vincent was starting to think that maybe Rude had done the same thing as well.

"Bored yet?" Vincent tensed up and looked over meeting gazes with the blue eyes. Cid was staring at him, chewing on a toothpick to keep him occupied. He'd been avoiding looking over at Cid since the weirdness had begun back at the dorm. His mind was confused, not sure what to make of the thing that Cid had said to him. But he couldn't stay quiet for long, not if it was just the two of them. He'd have to make his answers sweet and simple.

"A little." Yeah that should do it. Just enough but not too much.

Cid nodded his head. "Yeah, it can get like that if you're not the type that likes to fucking party." He looked away from him then looking out towards the billowing mounds of moving bodies and glowing lights. Vincent followed his gaze. It was something else when you really got to see it, not like you'd see on TV. The whole place was practically covered with darkness so that the most you could recognize were the glowing lights that showed there were people there.

It wasn't his type of music but he could understand why a person would dance to it. The beats coming out of the speakers were loud and made your whole body vibrate the closer you get to it. It felt surreal, like you weren't even on Earth as it awoke things that normally rested in his body. He honestly found he wanted to dance, to feel more of those beats. But instead he sat still and looked down at his soda taking another sip of the flat drink.

Oh he'd been asked quite a few times by people if he wanted to dance with them. And not of them had been women either. But after the first ten times he noticed that the people seemed to grow skeptical about coming to him. Maybe they picked up the hint that he didn't want to dance with them?

Cid had had quite a few offers as well, mostly all women. But there had been a few rare cases of guys asking him which resulting in a "no" and a "hell no" from the man. Well at least he knew what the answer would have been if he'd been the one asking.

On the plus side, he'd finally gotten a little more comfortable with the clothes he was wearing. With how dark it was around him, he didn't have to worry about people ogling him. Besides, he was just happy that he was spending some time with Cid and getting to see more into his personal li-

"Do you want to dance?"

Vincent blinked. Yeah he flat out didn't know how to respond. The question hadn't come from some random passerby this time. It'd come from the person sitting right next to him. Vincent turned his head looking at Cid knowing that his mouth was probably partly hanging open in his shock. No, he was reading too much into this. He had to be.

Cid chuckled at the look before he grinned at him. "Quit looking like I just proposed to you. I'm just asking if you wanted to go out there and dance instead of just sitting here looking like two grumpy men that were forced into coming here."

"…I don't know how to dance," Vincent said swallowing and glancing away. He'd never tried dancing before always thinking it was stupid and made you look weird. His siblings used to like to try and get him to dance which usually just resulted in swinging their arms together side to side while holding hands. But kids were simple like that.

"Well shit, neither do I!" Cid said standing up and grabbing Vincent's hand pulling him to his feet. It made Vincent blush as he stared down at the warm, coarse hand before his eyes went up to meet amused blues. "So we can look like two fucking idiots together, right?"

"Cid, I really don't think I can-"

"Just shut up and follow my lead ok?" He eased his words with a lack of force showing he didn't mean anything bad by them. Instead he started tugging Vincent towards the dance floor not seeming to care that he was still holding the taller man's hand. "Fuck, you only live once, right? So let's enjoy every fucking thing that we can while we're still young and living without back problems or fucking hip pain."

Cid didn't lead them out into the flow of bodies, instead taking them over to a darkened corner still close enough to feel the buzz of the music but not close enough for random dancers to bump into them. He'd never seen such a hype of excitement from a group of people before. Every so often the DJ would pop onto the speaker to say something. And despite the fact that Vincent doubted anyone understood what he said, the crowd would always cheer loudly and start bouncing around like drugged up pepper beans.

The sight of moving blue lights drew Vincent's attention to Cid again finding the other dangling one of the blue light sticks in front of him. He could barely see his features in the darkness as his eyes were slowly adjusting to it. In a way he felt comforted with this darkness. There was no way people would stare at him not without just thinking he was another body. But he could see the grin on Cid's face, could feel the eyes staring at him from the darkness.

The blue and green lights that surrounded Cid's waist seemed to start gravitating towards him as Cid started to pump his hips forward to the beat of the music. They captivated Vincent's eyes, literally hypnotized him as he watched the lights flapping around by their string. It wasn't hard to imagine it being something else that made his cheeks heat up.

"It's kind of weird just moving myself here!" Cid said pulling Vincent's eyes back up to him with his words. "Try moving at least a little bit!" Cid was yelling over the music to make sure that Vincent heard him.

"I don't know how!" Vincent tried to yell back but he wasn't the loud type so it still came out to nothing more than a whisper. Whether Cid heard him or not didn't seem to change what happened next. Hands came down rest on his hips and his eyes shot up quickly to look at Cid. The other wasn't looking at him though, his eyes staying focused downward that it made Vincent blush. He could feel the warmth of Cid's fingers pressing against his skin thanks to the fact that his shirt was mostly made of mesh. He felt Cid's hands tighten as they stared to shift his hips around moving him to the beat of the music.

He could feel it, could feel the music coursing through the soles of his feet and into his body putting him on a high. Vincent started to move on his own, letting the music control him the best he could.

"Don't try so hard. Just relax. Loosen up some." He wasn't sure when Cid had gotten so close he could lean over to whisper in his ear. Their bodies weren't touching but it was close enough in Vincent's opinion. Maybe it was because he was so into the music that he was forgetting who he was dancing with but Cid looked amazing. He'd gotten more into the music, his eyes closed as he moved his body following the beat and becoming a mindless clone to the music. He hadn't moved his hands from Vincent's hips which was the key problem Vincent was having with this all.

It was too close. He couldn't relax if he wanted to. He was dancing with the man of his dreams, watching him more as if he were under some secret euphoria. If Vincent moved and more than he was doing right now he knew he'd break the spell, even lose the feeling of Cid's hands on him. At least that was his thought before he felt the hands tighten around him and tug him closer till he was almost mashed up against the other's body.

He was losing his mind from how close he was to Cid. Being this close was something he'd only ever dreamed about. These kinds of things didn't come true, and yet he was seriously so close he could smell Cid's body wash and the faint scent of manly sweat. Vincent's body was giving in to the demands of staying away as he moved closer pressing himself flush up against Cid's body.

"Fuck…." It must have been the final push because Cid's hands gripped him tighter pulling him close until they were two bodies melting together. He could feel Cid's hips thrusting forward against him granted he couldn't tell if it was even going to the music anymore or not. But he gave into his desires, bending his head to kiss Cid's lips unable to stop himself from doing it. Too much was going on at one time. Too much making his head spin around to even care about the end results. But he wasn't disappointed, not when he felt the lips responding to him as the hands that were on his hips moved to grip his ass to grind against him harder.

Vincent didn't even care anymore that he was in public, his hands moving to hold Cid's hips in return as his mouth opened to invite in the tongue pressing against it. They shouldn't be doing this, not here with anyone walking by being able to see what they were doing. But he couldn't stop moving, dry humping the man of his dreams and earning the same in return. He was lost in a lust filled bliss that he was going to take full advantage of while he could.

Before he knew it, Cid had broken the kiss hugging him close as he panted loudly into his ear moving with him…no moving against him. Vincent's hands went up to his shirt holding it tight, a soft sound escaping his lips when Cid pressed into him harder. He didn't think it was loud, he didn't think he'd whispered out Cid's name right afterwards. It came out in the softest voice, just the name, "Cid" caused the hands on his ass to tighten as Cid's heavy breaths heated up his ear.

"Fuck…I can't….ngh." Vincent didn't know what he was trying to say at first but the tensing of the body in his arms followed by the hard thrust forward of Cid's hips before his body relaxed against him gave him all the information he needed. He could feel warmth seeping into his pants and tried hard to fight back the blush that was obviously showing up on his face.

Cid hadn't moved yet, his breath panting against Vincent's neck. They weren't even moving to the music anymore, just standing there floating in their own little world. He wasn't really sure where things were going to go from here. Hell, he hadn't exactly intended for Cid to dry hump him on the dance floor but he had no complaints towards it.

"I like you." The words were low but because of how close Cid was to him at that moment, he heard him perfectly. "So…I'd like to think we could be friends…or something." Or something…. Those were the words he'd heard from Cid back when they were heading to the dorms from the store, when they'd officially, verbally became friends. But Cid had added that or something for a reason. As a form of hope? Vincent wanted to think so anyway.

"I like you too," Vincent said feeling the smaller male tense up in his arms. But he didn't pull away which was a good sign because Vincent didn't think he'd be able to continue otherwise. "I've…liked you a long time. So…I'm hoping we can be friends…or something."

"…I like the 'or something' option way fucking more…"

"Same here."

Cid chuckled in his ear forcing a shiver to run down Vincent's spine from how sexy it sounded. The blond finally seemed to get himself together as he leaned back looking at Vincent's face, the biggest smile appearing on his face. "Wanna get the fuck out of this place and head back?"

"It's the best idea I've heard all night," Vincent said.

"Yeah," Cid said. "Besides, I have a little cleaning up I need to do." Well the same could be said for Vincent as well. "Sorry about the mess."

"It's fine. I was close to doing the same myself." Wait…did he really just say that? Cid was staring at him with wide blue eyes before he started barking out with laughter.

"Fuck, that's hot." Cid said lowering down to a small laugh. His eyes stared at Vincent with growing intensity that Vincent felt like he needed to take step back as he blushed. "I want to see that."

"Um…what?"

"Nothing," Cid said though the intensity didn't die for a minute in his eyes. "Well, let's head back. Just text your buddies and let them know you're heading back with me."

"What about Reno and Rude?" Cid was already moving walking towards the exit making Vincent catch up to walk behind him. It was a really good thing that they had such dark colored clothes otherwise someone would probably think they peed on themselves. Or worse, they'd figure out what it really was.

"They'll be gone all night so we have plenty of time." Vincent tensed up at the words, frowning slightly. Plenty of time for what? What was Cid planning on making them do? He guessed he'd find out when they got back to the dorm. But if it was anything like what happened out on the dance floor, he was more than willing to do it again.

TBC….

Annnd the next part can't be posted on here so you'll have to read it on my archive of our own account or y-gallery. XD But if you skip it and go to the next chapter which will still be called 6, you won't be missing anything important besides the yummy bits. Granted they haven't been uploaded yet, they will be coming soon. ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: For the naughty bits that happened before this chapter please refer to my archiveofourown account or y-gallery. Though it's not a required read to understand this chapter.

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Culinary Boy 06

There was definitely something wrong with this situation. Well granted it wasn't really wrong just…not normal. But it wasn't bad…how could he explain it? It was something he'd only imagined in his wildest dreams to happen. Waking up with Cid beside him was the best thing to ever happen to him…and so was the lack of clothes that reminded him of what happened…well except their socks and Cid's goggles that magically stayed on his head.

He'd had sex…with Cid Highwind. It was just the oral kind but still…it was sex regardless. They'd flat out came back, went to Cid's room and just…just did it. It'd been amazing…and it'd been his first time being with another person like that. He didn't know what to make of it. He also didn't know how he'd been convinced to stay there with Cid. He must have fallen asleep at the time or just didn't care.

But he did care now that he was awake and more aware of what was going on. He had no regrets about what happened last night. But since Cid said that his roommates didn't usually come back until morning, it was probably a good idea to get dressed and vacate before they returned. Except Cid literally had him in a body lock with how he was using Vincent as his personal teddy bear.

Vincent couldn't help staring at Cid sleeping there, his eyes travelling down to the lips that he'd gotten quite acquainted with last night. He blushed remember the taste of Cid's strong tongue in his mouth, the hint of cigarette there, the Moogle pack to be particular. And as much as he wanted to stay here all day snuggled up with Cid in his very loving embrace…he needed to go. He needed to go before Cid's roommates found him here in a very compromising position. And he needed to go before Zack started wandering around to investigate where he was.

He wasn't even going to check his phone which he was sure probably had a ton of texts. He was glad he put it on silent right after he had texted Zack to let him know he was heading back with Cid. Vincent shifted slightly then edged himself towards the edge of the bed close to slipping free of Cid's loose grip before the man tightened his hold tugging him back over to him.

"Quit…fucking squirming….mm….tryin…..sleep…."

"….." Yeah a lot harder than he thought it would be. He needed to wake Cid up. Yet a part of him was worried about doing that. He worried that it was somehow all a fluke. That Cid had just been driven by the sounds of the music that put his brain on a lust filled override. Or maybe that Cid only meant this to be a onetime thing. No, but Cid had meant it when he said that he liked him. There was no lying in those eyes. It didn't stop Vincent's imagination from playing all kinds of scenarios in his head though.

So he went with a second attempt to slide out of the bed making it halfway off before his arm was grabbed and his was tugged back into the bed. He felt a weight lay on top of him and looked up blushing to see the amusement of bright blue eyes shining back at him looking only partially sleepy.

"Thought you were gonna to do a fuck and run, huh?"

"C-Cid…!" Vincent blushed at feeling the nakedness of the other's body on top of him beneath the sheets. His hands were pushed down onto the bed above his head as Cid leaned his head down closer, softly biting at his lower lip drawing a shiver and a moan from him. Damn it…he shouldn't be getting turned on right now. But he was getting turned on, returning the kiss when Cid's lips came flush with his. Damn it, why was Cid so perfect? He was so good with flipping Vincent's world upside down.

The kiss was broken and Cid laid there staring down at him a moment longer before he finally sat up and reached over grabbing the pack of cigs off the dresser giving Vincent free reign of his body. Vincent was still red when he sat up, his fingers moving to touch against his lips. He'd hate to see what he must have looked like in the mirror after last night. His hair was probably all over the place. Cid didn't seem to mind it one bit though.

"How about we get dressed and you can walk down with me so I can get a quick smoke in?"

He looked over at Cid meeting the blue eyes before giving a nod of his head slowly like he was in a daze. What he really wanted was to get a shower. He didn't want to walk around smelling like sweat, sex, and other bodily fluids. Not to mention he wanted to change into some clothes, some real clothes and not that junk that Zack forced him to wear last night. Even if it did end up making Cid dry hump him on the dance floor. Guess he bedazzled the dazzler.

Clothes were tossed onto his lap before he registered what happened. It was a pair of Cid's old sweats and a shirt that looked like they'd be really comfortable to wear. Vincent looked up at Cid seeing that he had already tugged on a pair of boxers and was pulling up a pair of jeans when he caught Vincent looking at him.

"Figured you didn't wanna try squeezing into those tight ass pants again," Cid said tugging up the jeans and buttoning them up somehow making even that simple task look sexy. "Promise we'll get a fucking shower after I get a quick smoke in. Know ya don't like smelling all funky."

Vincent blushed but he couldn't help smiling at the idea that Cid knew what he was thinking. "I should probably skip ahead and get my shower."

Cid blinked staring at him stopping in the middle of putting his shirt on. "What? Ya don't wanna take a shower with me or something?"

"Nothing like that," Vincent said slipping the shirt over his head. "But there's the dorm rule saying we can't go on other floors to shower."

"Fuck, no one follows that rule," Cid said eyeing him. "I've fucking been on almost every floor because I wanted to." Well…it made sense. It wasn't like they could monitor where you took your shower at. Besides, as long as they weren't doing something illegal it shouldn't be a problem. But there was another reason why he couldn't shower with Cid.

"…Cid, if I shower with you, we might…" He left the words there, trying not to let the burning in his cheeks get to him. Cid must have gotten his point because his own cheeks seemed to turn red as well from the thought.

"Right…I see your point." Cid smirked at him. "Hell, you're already getting me horny just watching ya." He stared at Vincent like he was waiting. It made Vincent realize what he was looking for as he remembered he was holding the pants in his hands still. "Aren't you gonna get dressed?"

"…Turn around."

"…Heh?" Cid blinked at him owlishly. "Do what now?"

Vincent blushed. "Just…turn around so I can dress."

"…Says the man who just got sucked off by me last night."

"Cid!" The banging on the door drew both of their attention towards it like two deer hearing a shot go off. They looked at each other before Cid made his way towards the door and Vincent quickly stood up slipping the sweats on during the distraction. They looked like high waters on him but he wasn't about to complain. It was still better than the leather pants…and it was Cid's. That itself warmed him more than it should have.

Cid was kind enough to kick the discarded clothes under the bed for quick hiding before he grumbled heading over to the door at the louder knocking. "Coming, damn it! Hold your fuckin horses!" He opened up the door wide enough that Vincent could see the red of hair easily from his standing position. Well that and the fact that he was just taller than Cid in general anyway. "Well well, let me guess. Left your fuckin keys again?"

"Fuck off, I'm tired, yo," Reno said pushing past Cid as he made his way into the room.

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine," Cid said grumbling as he closed the door. Even though Reno said he was sleepy, to Vincent he always looked tired. But if he looked hard enough he could see the swell of pain in his head that signaled to him probably having a hangover from all his drinking last night. And that's exactly the reason why Vincent was never going to drink if he could avoid it.

"Smells kind of funky in here." Vincent swore he hoped he didn't look like a guilty kid stealing snacks. Because all it would take is Reno putting two and two together to figure out what happened in this room last night. Reno paused when he saw Vincent making the ebony haired male tense up when the red head lifted a brow slightly. "You're here bright and early, yo. Come to hang out with the annoying blond?"

"…Homework." Yeah, good answer, Vincent. Reno glanced over to the bed then around Vincent's vicinity before he lifted a brow.

"…Without books?"

"What, is this a fucking interrogation room or something?" Cid said walking over and picking up his pack of cigarettes off the bed saving Vincent from the explanation. "Thought you said you were fucking sleepy, so lay your ass down and get to sleep."

"…Yes, Mama Cid," Reno said lying down on his bed as he smirked over at Cid. "Should I suck on your tit for milk too?"

"Blow me!"

"Funny, that's exactly what I told your mom last night," Reno said grinning at the angry look on Cid's face before he rolled over lying flat on the bed. "Now get going with your sour tit milk so I can sleep, yo." Cid grumbled saying something under his breath before he looked at Vincent.

"Come on. Let's get the hell out of here." He turned walking off already heading out the door. Vincent glanced at Reno's back before he started to follow. He paused when he saw Cid's famous leather jacket on the floor by the bed before he grabbed it taking it with him as he caught up to Cid outside the room. "Fuckers are so ornery in the fucking morning after a club day." Vincent blinked trying to figure out exactly who was the ornery one there.

"Here." Vincent held the leather jacket out to Cid as they walked the blond looking at it with confusion before he looked up at Vincent. The look made Vincent wonder if he made a mistake or not as he pulled it back slightly. "You…you're always wearing it so I thought…."

"Wow, you really have been watching me a lot, huh?"

Vincent felt his skin go cold as he looked away holding the jacket to him. "I…uh…"

"Aww quit getting all scared. I don't mean anything bad by it." Cid looked at him smiling to show he meant no harm. "So I take it to mean I'm that 'hot chick' you're chasing after."

"…Yeah." Vincent looked over at him, unable to help feeling shy around him. Hell, they did just do…a lot of things that only couples should be doing. "You're the reason I'm in the culinary major."

"Eh?" Cid blinked stopping to really look at him. "You mean you're cookin for me?" At Vincent's slow, careful nod, the grin that broke out on his face could only be deemed amazing. "Fuck, you're just making me fall in love with you more and more, Vincent."

"L-Love?!"

Cid stared at him before he burst into laughter. "You sure have a thing against the word love." But the look Cid gave him as he smiled at him, literally melted Vincent's heart. "But yeah…that word probably fucking describes how I feel right now." Vincent blushed turning his head away unable to stop the smile from coming on his face.

"I feel that way too," he said. It was easier to say it knowing that Cid felt the same about him. The red that dusted Cid's cheeks was enough for him as he saw Cid rubbing at his cheek to hide his embarrassment.

"Let's get my smoke in so we can get a fucking shower before things get too mushy here." He had the cig slipped between his lips walking faster leaving Vincent to follow after him. This was going to take some getting used to, but he didn't mind it as long as he was with Cid.

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To Vincent, time seemed to slip by so fast. But in his mind, everything was perfect. He spent most of his afternoons hanging out with Cid in his room or the two of them doing simple things like walking to the store and hanging out in the kitchen. It got easier to be around Cid, to feel the other's arms around him, to breath in his scent. It was intoxicating, perfect, Cid. He didn't know what his life would have been without him. Granted Zack and Cloud had found out fairly quickly about his loving affair with Cid. But they didn't get disgusted and instead seemed to encourage it more. Though Zack seemed to enjoy teasing him about it saying he knew about it since high school.

Aside from the occasional stolen kisses, Cid and Vincent rarely got to do much more in their alone time. They did get a few more Saturday nights alone to themselves. But after that second time where Reno came back early and almost walked in on their make out session, they hadn't taken any more chances aside from just snuggling together. Really the only two that even knew they were in a relationship were Zack and Cloud. He wasn't sure how Reno and Rude would respond if they found out. And honestly, he didn't want to find out despite the fact that the two seemed to tease them a lot like they knew.

Most times he found himself helping Cid to build his Tiny Bronco, which he had to say was more elaborate than he'd originally thought with all the pieces needed for it. How long had it taken Cid to build it even this far?

So before he knew it, it was the middle of the semester and fall was upon them. His literature class was going to be doing a joint field trip with Cid's class. He was looking forward to it even going so far as to write out plans for what to make for their lunches. Granted that he could just buy with the rest of the kids from the class…but he wasn't really doing well on funds this month. His mother was having a bit of trouble with paying the bills back home and, despite her protesting, Vincent had told her to hold onto the money she usually sent him saying that he had enough left to last him for the rest of the month.

Of course that was a complete lie considering he maybe had only fifty bucks to his name. But as long as he budgeted himself well, bought cheap things that could last a while if made, like rice, he'd be good to go. Of course he wasn't letting Cid know about any of this. It wasn't really his concern anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a job soon, something that would help him earn some money without feeling guilty for mooching off his family. Hopefully he'd find a job that would make enough to send money back to his loving family. He was definitely going to have to visit them next break. He actually did miss the little tykes and his mother as well.

"What ya thinkin about?"

Vincent looked over at Cid hearing his voice. He swore he knew every detail of his face all the way down to every little detail of each facial hair. They were working on their chemistry homework in Vincent's room since it'd be much faster than trying to doing it on their own. Granted neither had much trouble on their own and it was really just more of an excuse to spend more time together.

"I was thinking about getting a job," Vincent said. "I want to learn to be more independent." Well it wasn't a lie. He really did want to be more independent…he wanted to be the one providing for his family, not the other way around.

"Interesting," Cid said chewing on the end of his pen. "I just put in for a job myself. I'll start working at the automotive place right down the street."

"I didn't know that," Vincent said lifting his brows in surprise. Somehow that seemed fitting though, for Cid to be working on cars. It made sense since he was majoring in how to make other forms of transportation.

"Yep. Did it while you were at your culinary class. Figured I needed to get some work experience or something." Cid sat up, stretching while somehow managing not to fall of the small twin sized bed the two of them were sharing. "You decide on what you want to do yet?"

"…I'm not sure," Vincent said frowning. It wasn't like he'd ever had a job before. Most times he stayed home to keep watch over his siblings.

"…Well how about something close to your major?" Cid said. "Like I don't know…working at a coffee shop or a bakery or something."

"A bakery…" Vincent nodded at that. That could work. It'd be perfect for keeping up his practice while not having to buy his own supplies.

"Yep. There's a bakery right across the street from the fuckin auto shop." Cid was grinning when he said that. "It'll give me a place to hang out at during breaks. We can check it out tomorrow after the god damn field trip to hell."

"We're just going to a play," Vincent said with amusement. He hadn't forgotten about how much Cid hated literature class.

"I'm going to be bored out of my fuckin mind!" Cid said groaning with frustration. "Stupid fucking tights…."

"…Better watching it than reading it right?" Vincent said trying to keep a straight face though he felt like grinning at Cid's antics.

"Fuck, the only way they'd get me interested in this stupid play is if you were the one up there wearing the tights." Vincent dared a glance up his way then blushed seeing the way Cid was staring at his body, especially around his butt. He swore he felt Cid's eyes sliding along his legs. It sent shivers down his spine. When he felt the weight of the other's body move to lie on top of him from behind, his heart sped up in his chest. "Course I'd rather see you wearing nothing at all."

"C-Cid…" Vincent turned his head finding the other's face right next to his. Their eyes met again, the perfect sky blues drawing him in like they had the very first time he'd ever set his eyes on Cid. He leaned in pressing his lips to Cid's enjoying the soft kiss and the satisfactory sound that slipped from Cid's mouth. He could feel the other's tongue sliding into his mouth as hands went beneath his shirt touching at the softness of his skin making it tingle. He swore he could die happily here just like this with nothing else in the world but just the two of them.

"Vincent, we're ba-ack! Quick, Cloud! Close your eyes!" Zack was staring at them with wide, eyes though Vincent could see the amusement hidden there as well. "You're too young to see this!"

"God damn it, learn to start fucking knocking when you decide to just bust your ass in!" Cid crawled off from the top of him leaving nothing but coolness and Vincent's face hiding in the pillow mortified. This was kind of a normal occurrence too. It was like Zack and Cloud knew just when to come back in to ruin the mood. Granted he was glad it happened this time because he swore Cid was planning on doing more. Seriously, they really needed to find themselves their own place. Maybe if the job thing went ok he could see about the two of them renting an apartment. At least then they didn't have to hide everything nearly as much as here. They had absolutely no privacy here.

Vincent turned his head to the side, just enough to peek out and saw Cid looking down at him. The soft smile that lifted to those lips relaxed whatever discomfort he'd felt only moments ago. Hell, he'd die happily just to see that smile on that face. He'd die happy just knowing that Cid was by his side.

TBC…..

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Seriously had fun with this chapter. XD I can almost see exactly where this is going.


	7. Chapter 7

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: Annnd XD I think things will get interesting soon.

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Culinary Boy 07

The play wasn't all that bad. It was a comedy about a clown that fell in love with a mime. It was definitely eye grabbing and good enough to actually keep Cid interested. Vincent's boyfriend took delight in cackling at every little joke told. They sat next to each other since it wasn't required to sit with your class on this trip. And because of how dark it was in the theater, they were easily able to hold hands.

By the time the play was over and the two classes were walking out, Cid literally had tears in his eyes. It made Vincent smile to see the usually grumpy male enjoying himself so well. He was still laughing about it when they got on the bus. Cloud sat across from them, talking and putting in a comment every so often. For the most part he stayed quiet though. That was usually the case when Zack wasn't there.

"Seriously, Vin, why the hell was the clown trying to marry the chicken to make her jealous?"

"I'm not sure," Vincent said chuckling getting more amusement from Cid than from the actual play. He wasn't sure when Cid started using the nickname but he loved it. It made him feel special.

"Hehe, seriously. The best shit I've seen in a while," Cid said grinning as he wiped at his eyes. "Hm? Looks like were stopping to eat." He was looking out the window when he spoke. Vincent looked over his shoulder to see where they had stopped for food. McDuckin Chuckin. It was some fast food place that Vincent honestly wasn't fond of.

He was prepared, though, having made a meal for the two of them to eat. Something simple that he'd made for them last night which didn't require him spending more of his limited money. So when the bus stopped and the other students started piling out to eat, Vincent reached under the chair pulling out their lunch. He could literally see Cid salivating at the sight of the lunch box. Vincent asked Cloud if he wanted some but the blond just smiled and shook his head before leaving with the others.

Opening it, Vincent passed a sandwich over to Cid laughing at how quickly he uncovered it. He barely even let the wrapper fall before he took a bite out of it. "Damn it, Vin, this is the best shit in the world!"

Vincent blushed at the compliment before starting to eat his own sandwich.

"So, still planning on work at the bakery?"

"If I get hired, yeah." He couldn't help the intimidating feeling that trying to get his first job had on him. It made him nervous, the unexpected fear of failure rising up in him. His mother had struggled with jobs while keeping care of him and his siblings. He still hated that he needed to borrow money from her even if his tuition did pay for his dorm and classes. He really needed a job to earn some income.

"Don't worry, you've got this," Cid said licking his lips clean, his tongue catching Vincent's eyes making him swallow. "They'll be fucking begging you to work there after tasting this."

"You think so?" Vincent said smiling.

"I fucking know so!" Whether he was loud or not didn't matter with just the two of them being the only ones on the bus. It didn't stop Vincent from glancing down the aisle quickly before diving in and pressing his lips to Cid's. He enjoyed the surprise on Cid's face from his initiated kiss and enjoyed it even more when the kiss was returned. But he didn't let it go on for long, not with the possibility of someone coming back on the bus.

The rest of the trip back was pretty quiet, though he did enjoy the sight of a sleeping Cid leaning his head on his shoulder lightly snoring. Granted it was just a class trip, it almost felt like a date.

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Vincent swallowed as he stared at the bakery store manager. He'd brought a sampling of one of his cakes and found that he kept looking around nervously. He felt like he was in an interrogation room as he sat in the dark, dank supply room with a single light dangling over the chair.

The little old lady that interviewed him couldn't have looked happier. No, instead she had this deep set frown on her face, her brows permanently squished to the center of her visage like she was constipated. Vincent could see her walking by the front of a class full of students with a ruler in hand. Strict. Ornery. That's where Vincent's mind went when he looked at her. And it wasn't the Cid kind of ornery either. Just…mean.

She was holding the sampling of the cake in her old palm, a chunk having been bitten out already leaving crumbs in her wrinkled hand. She stared at Vincent hard like she was staring at some disgusting insect. It unsettled Vincent even though the old woman was half his size, his red eyes flickering to everything but hers. She hadn't even said a word since she ate the cake.

There was some relief to be had when she turned away from him resting her arms behind her back.

"Talk to Melissa out front," she said not even turning to look at him. "You'll set up your schedule with her."

Vincent blinked sitting for a second before he hopped up. "T-Thank you, ma'am."

"You need more training," she said glancing back, her eyes seeming softer than they had earlier. "But you have potential." She walked from the room leaving Vincent sitting there in shock before he found himself smiling as he stood up from the chair.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said again even after she was gone. He left heading back to the front to meet with Melissa. He was able to see Cid from the front counter. The man was nervously tapping his carton of cigarettes against the table top. When he looked up and their eyes met over the counter, Vincent felt all of his nervous jitters seep out of his body.

Cid had a questioning look on his face, as he held up a thumb wavering between pointing it up and down as he tried to figure out the outcome. Vincent gave him a small smile to show that everything was good. It must have been what Cid had been waiting for because as soon as he saw the smile he broke out in a large grin. Life couldn't be any sweeter than this.

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Working at the bakery was better than he had expected. He received way more training than his school had provided him. Mrs. Cook, the little old lady that had interrogated him during his interview, turned out to be nicer than he expected.

She taught him new techniques, things he'd never done before. But she wasn't against popping his hand if he did something she didn't approve like too much sugar or not enough salt.

"How is everything going?" Melissa asked coming to stand beside him at the register. He'd been working here a couple of weeks but this was his first time working the register. Melissa was the assistant manager of the store. With red curly hair and freckles she was also Mrs. Cook's granddaughter. The differences between Melissa and her grandmother were shockingly high from the girl's constantly smiling face to the way her large ears seemed too big for her face. She also didn't mind taking things slow to teach Vincent the proper way of doing things to get his cupcakes just the right amount of fluff.

So she was showing him the ropes, letting him see how she interacted with customers. It was interesting how many of them were regulars. The girl knew every one of their orders by heart it seemed. She'd already explained to him how things worked. People placed their orders at the counter. They made them and brought the orders out to them. There were a couple of other workers there too, one that helped out behind the counter while the other worked on delivering the food to the people at the tables. Each of them had aprons on considering that they all had been trained to bake their goods.

For work, Vincent wore a button up white shirt and black pants with an apron tied around his neck and waist to help keep him clean from the mess he'd no doubt produce later. He had his long black hair in a ponytail, his features hot enough to attract plenty of young women to the shop. Not once did they question his red eyes. He was sure they just thought they were contacts which was fine with him. They didn't need to know why his eyes were the way they were.

The bell on the door jingled letting him know a few people had come in. He smiled. It was part of the job. But it didn't mean it had to be the huge Grand Canyon smile. It was tiny enough to see it was there. The first was a little old man balding at the top of his head. He seemed used to coming here, his eyes cutting over to Melissa standing beside him before smiling.

"Ah, I see you have a new worker today," he said.

"Yeah, his name's Vincent," she said smiling. "He's a new hiring and an inspiring chef. He's going to be working here while he's at college."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Vincent said giving a small bow of his head in respect before looking past the old man's glasses to his dark eyes. "What can I get for you today?"

"Hm…just the mocha today." He placed his money down on the counter with a shaky hand before he smiled up at Vincent.

Vincent blinked before he nodded his head, glancing over at the espresso machine. "…Any particular way you want it?"

"Hmm…let's see…" the old man said stroking his small gray beard. "Make it dark…but sweet with a little touch of whip cream on top."

"Dark but sweet…" Vincent glanced over again. Milk…dark chocolate…and maybe sugar? He wasn't used to making mochas, he admitted. He frowned glancing over at the espresso machine. "Alright…" He looked over at the man again. "If you'll have a seat, I'll bring it out to you shortly."

"Thank you, young man," the old man said already starting for the table. Frowning, Vincent let Melissa take care of the next order while he went to attempt making the mocha. He'd tried one that Melissa had made before and hadn't been fond of the stuff. But he remembered some of the things she did.

It didn't take long for him to finish, the peeping hot mocha smoking in front of him. He carried it with care taking it to the old man where he placed it on the table in front of him. "Here, sir."

"Thank you again…Vincent was it?" Vincent nodded staring down at the cup. The old man wasn't even looking at it, continuing to read his newspaper before his eyes cut up to look at Vincent, looking like they were filled with amusement. "Is something wrong?"

"N…No," Vincent said looking away quickly. But it would have been nice to know if he made it correctly or not. "Please let me know if there's anything else you need." He left the old man there, missing the smile that came on the man's face as he started back behind the counter.

"Oh, good timing," Melissa said as he came back around. "Here, take this to table ten. You remember which one that is right?"

Vincent gave a nod. Oh he knew. Mrs. Cook has forced him to memorize it with a smack to his hand each time he got it wrong. His knuckles were still red from that. Grabbing the tray containing an éclair and a cup of hot tea, Vincent headed out to table ten. Why the tables were named so differently, he didn't know. He was just glad he could remember that it was the table by the window. As he walked over walking past other windows his eyes ventured outside to the auto shop across the street. He couldn't see Cid from here but it still put a smile on his face to know the other was there. Cid had to work today. It wasn't always the case which usually ended with Cid spending time loitering around the bakery.

He looked forward to their walks back to the dorms in the afternoon. It was the end to the perfect days he'd gotten to experience. Especially since sometimes they would detour through the park or by the lake. Usually by the time one of them got off from work it was dark out. It wasn't much time to spend together but it was something, especially since it was more alone time than they got back at the dorms. He only had thirty minutes left until his shift was over.

"I take it that's for me," a voice said from the table. Vincent blinked looking down forgetting for a moment that he was working. He sat the éclair and tea down trying to ignore the light blush to his cheeks from his embarrassment.

"Sorry sir," he said looking towards the man. He blinked when he stared at him. He'd seen him before, this man with his long almost silver hair and his intriguing green eyes. Where had he seen this guy before?

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Vincent Valentine," the male said glancing up at him as he sips on the hot tea.

"Sephiroth?" Vincent blinked before he smiled slightly seeing him. Sephiroth had been his senior while he'd still been a sophomore himself. He was also a popular one considering his lineage and standings. He was sophisticated, handsome, kind, and overall just likeable. Vincent didn't lie when he said he admired the man. But he'd graduated two years before Vincent. This was the first time he'd seen the man since.

"I see you remember me," Sephiroth said chuckling as he reached down grabbing the éclair. "What are you doing around here?"

"I work here," Vincent said then shook his head at the obvious answer. "I mean, I go Moomba Technical College. I'm working part time to learn more about cooking in my field."

"I see." Sephiroth took a bite out of the éclair, staring up at him not being bothered by the cream that was on his lips before his tongue peeked out to lick it clean. Something about the stare and the action made Vincent blush as he glanced to the side quickly to hide from his stare. What had that been? "Are you still hanging out with Zack?" Zack had been the one to introduce him to Sephiroth. He apparently used to hang out with him for a little while before Sephiroth had graduated. Apparently the tall, green eyed male didn't have a problem with hanging around people younger than him.

"Yeah he…we're roommates," Vincent said shifting slightly. Why did he feel so nervous all of a sudden?

"Are you doing anything after work?"

"E-Excuse me?" Vincent looked at him quickly, his eyes wide slightly. But there wasn't anything there but a look of mild interest.

"If you're busy, that's fine. We can save it for another day." When had he finished eating so fast? The small saucer the éclair had been on was completely empty minus the little specks of crumb here and there.

"Sorry, I'm meeting with someone after work," Vincent said frowning as he reached down grabbing the dish putting it back on the tray. Sephiroth drank the rest of the tea before he held the cup up towards Vincent.

"Then perhaps at another time?" Vincent reached out grabbing the glass, trying to ignore how the other's fingers seemed to move up to brush against his own. There was something about the look in the other's green eyes that bothered him. He couldn't stop his face from heating up as he pulled his hand back away from the other.

"I'll…think on it," he said turning away, ignoring the shiver that was still traveling through his body from the other's touch. He headed back towards the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink. When he walked by, Melissa told him to go ahead and start on the dishes. He was grateful for the task and the excuse to be away from the green eyes he felt follow him all the way through the door. Had Sephiroth ever done anything like that before? He didn't remember it. He knew he'd met him through Zack but they'd barely spoken to each other at the time.

Frustrated, he barely even knew how fast time had passed until Melissa poked her head in the kitchen frowning at him.

"Vincent," she said bringing in a dirty glass. "Your friend's out here waiting on you. You should get going. Don't you have class in the morning?"

Vincent blinked and looked up at her before nodding his head slowly. How had he lost track of time so easily? He was staring down at an empty sink. When had he cleaned them all up so quickly? Shaking his head, he slipped his apron off placing it with a stack of towels to be washed before heading out to the front. The shop was closed, Melissa busy sweeping the dirty floor of dropped sweets and leaves that came in from outside. Cid was sitting at the center table, the only one with the chair still on the ground.

The sight of the man put Vincent at ease as he smiled heading in his direction. Cid must have heard his footfalls because he turned around before he stood up smiling at him. "Geez, first time I've ever had to come pick you up. Been busy?"

"Yeah, it was a little rough today," Vincent said. "Not something I couldn't handle."

"Fucking right," Cid said laughing before he grin turning to the red haired girl. "Don't go overworking Vin here too much now."

"I'm pretty sure he can handle it if I did," the girl said laughing as she looked up at them smiling. "Have a good night, Vin. See you in a couple of days."

"Thank you. Good night." Vincent followed Cid out the door taking in a deep breath of the fresh outside air. He couldn't help staring at Cid's neck seeing the smudge markings of dirt and oil. In fact, Cid smelled like he lived in the auto shop. He wasn't wearing the overalls since he left them at the shop, but his face had spots of oil and grease in various places making him look like a kid that got hold of a marker.

He'd never discussed the idea of the two of them living together in an apartment. The end of the semester was coming up soon and it was something he wanted to put out there before Cid ended up getting another room at the dorm. He must have been thinking pretty hard about it because he didn't even realize Cid had moved in front of him until he saw the other staring up at him.

"You ok, Vin?" Cid said frowning as he stared at him. "You ain't sick are ya?"

"No just…I was thinking about something," Vincent said glancing away from those eyes.

"About what?"

"…An apartment," Vincent said finally looking back at him. Cid's face twisted up in confusion and he almost lost the nerve to speak. But it was now or never. All Cid could say was "hell no" if he didn't want to do it. After all, they'd only been dating for about a month now.

"I was wondering," he continued, "if you wanted to…get an apartment together."

Blue eyes stared into his red one widening slightly before the blond smiled at him. "Well fuck yeah, Vin. Hell, I was going to see if you wanted to share a dorm room with me next semester but that's even fucking better!"

"So you're ok with it?"

"Of course I'm fucking ok with it! Fuck! Let's price some when we get back!" Cid was grinning like Vincent had just given him his favorite candy. "I'm all fucking hyped up for this shit n-mm!" Vincent didn't even let him finish, leaning down and kissing the talking lips silencing them. He'd already checked. There wasn't anyone around to witness the two men kissing and tongue wrestling with each other. Hell, he'd needed this all day. After his strange encounter with Sephiroth, he almost could care less about who saw him kissing Cid. He needed him.

"Nngh fuck…." Cid broke the kiss panting out as he said the word. His closed eyes opened again to stare up at Vincent with that mixture of lust and need that Vincent felt growing inside himself as well. "Fuck, let's get back before I end up fucking banging you right here."

"I wouldn't mind it," Vincent said before he could stop himself. Aside from Cid feeling him up when they did get some time alone, he hadn't had a chance to do much more with Cid than kissing and groping. And it was seriously driving him crazy. It was like he'd been given sweet chocolate to taste from their first night only to have it snatched away from him.

Cid stared at him in surprise before a smirk appeared on his face. "Fuck, Vin. You're kinkier than I thought." The look he gave Vincent literally made him want to moan out. "Can't wait to see what happens our first night in our new place."

"I'm sure it will be something," Vincent said ignoring how Cid laughed at him stepping back.

"Well then, I'm fucking looking forward to it," Cid said looking up at him one last time before he turned started to walk off leaving Vincent to stare after him. "Now let's get fucking going before I really do push you up against a wall and ram into you." Seriously, should words like that really make your knees go weak? If it was anything like the fingers from that night, he'd be more than willing to experience what Cid had in order for him.

TBC….

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Because everyone needs a little Sephiroth in their lives. Or...something.


	8. Chapter 8

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent at the moment

Comment: Work's been kinda rough, so this almost didn't come out today. x.x

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Culinary Boy 08

"What yall looking at, yo?"

"Apartments you dingbat," Cid said grumbling as he sat at his desk not stopping for a moment with his typing. He looked tired, his eyes straining to see the screen in front of him. Vincent didn't blame him, he was tired too, even if he was just sitting on the bed and watching. They'd been at it since they got back from Chemistry class, trying to find an apartment for the two of them to live in. So far they were coming up empty since every single place seemed far over their budget. Worse, they had some with more rooms that cost just as much as the regular two bedroom ones. Seriously, why were apartments so expensive?

"Planning on getting a place for next semester?" Reno asked leaning over Cid's shoulder to watch. "Don't wanna spend time in the dorms with us or something, yo?"

"I want some fucking privacy," Cid said grunting out as he glared over his shoulder at Reno. "I can't ever beat one off if I wanted to with you jackasses walking around everywhere."

"It's like he doesn't appreciate our company," Rude said not even sounding offended as he leaned back on the bed. "You think he's trying to get rid of us?"

Reno chuckled resting a hand on Cid's shoulder. "Well it's not like I want to see Cid jack one off either." He smirked. "But this does sounds like a good idea, yo. It'll be easier to get the ladies if we had our own place."

"No one's fucking inviting you," Cid said grumbling out. "This is just between me and Vincent here."

"Well from the sounds of it, you ain't got the funds to handle it." He was right. Vincent knew it and he was sure Cid did too. Despite having jobs, the way the world was now things were just expensive. Hell, they still needed to cover themselves and any of the books and supplies needed for class. But if they didn't get out of these dorms, Vincent was going to go crazy. It would get to a point that he wouldn't care what Cid did to him as long as he got to feel something. Besides, it didn't mean they'd all be shoved into the same room.

"So lay it out for me," Cid said turning in his chair and glaring up at Reno. "What are you fucking suggest we do?"

"Rent out one of those damn houses people put up." He smirked. "They usually rent out for cheap and sometimes you can get about three or four bedrooms to one house."

"And then invite the two of you to stay…." Cid thought on it frowning a bit. "You know I'm forcing you guys to pay rent."

"Of course. We're not stupid enough to think it's free." Reno turned heading back to his bunk. "But the more people you invite to stay, the cheaper the rent will be." And with fewer rules they could essentially do whatever they wanted. It didn't sound like a bad idea really.

"I see…." Cid's eyes turned to Vincent suddenly jolting the other back to attention. "What do you think, Vin?"

"…It would be cheaper," Vincent said frowning slightly as he looked up at him. "And I could ask if Zack and Cloud wanted to stay. That'd make six people. At least we'd have money to spend for ourselves that way."

"I guess," Cid said though he didn't sound convinced. "Well it's still fucking better than staying in the dorms. And with more rooms, I won't have to smell Reno's smelly feet in the morning."

"I won't have to hear your loud bear like snore in the morning."

"I won't have to smell your dog breath."

"I won't have to see your ugly pig face," Reno smirked. "And I might get lucky to taste Vinny's delicious meals, yo."

"V-Vinny?" Vincent's eyes shot over to Reno's quick, missing the annoyed look Cid sent Reno's way.

"What? Something wrong with a nickname?" Reno said smirking. "Cid calls you Vin…or is there something special going on there that I don't know about?" His eyes cast suspicion on them and Vincent found himself swallowing and glancing away. He was really starting to think that Reno knew about their relationship. Though why the other hadn't said anything about it yet was beyond him. "Besides, those cupcakes were damn delicious, yo."

"I'll see if Cloud and Zack want in on this plan," Vincent said standing up from the bed, avoiding Reno's eyes as he looked at Cid. "I need to get ready for class anyway."

"Alright," Cid said the frustrated look on his face relaxing as he smiled at Vincent. "Later, Vin."

"Yeah, see ya later Vinny."

"Quit calling him that!"

"What? You jealous? Or should I call him Vinco, yo?" Reno was laughing as he said it but Vincent decided to make his escape slipping out of the room before their arguments got louder. He headed up to the third floor unlocking the door to his room. As he stepped inside, his eyes caught sight of two things that made him lift his brow. One was the fact that Zack and Cloud jumped away from each other in the guiltiest of actions. The other was that Cloud's face looked red enough to set off a fire alarm before the young blond was moving quickly pushing past him out the door.

Vincent looked after him watching him leave before he turned looking at Zack curious. "Should I ask what that was about?"

"Eh…nothing you need to worry about, Vincent," Zack said rubbing at his head looking embarrassed. As if Vincent couldn't put two and two together. "What's up? I thought you'd be at class by now."

"I'm getting ready to head there now," Vincent said. "I just came in to see what you two would think about getting a rental house with me, Cid, and his roommates."

Zack blinked easing himself down to sit on the bunk. Vincent took notice of how messed up his shirt looked but he didn't make a comment about it. "A rental house?"

"We're getting out of the dorms," Vincent said trying not to imagine how much it sounded like they were breaking out of prison. "Before the start of next semester. For privacy." He eyed him as he said that. "And seeing what I saw coming in, I'd think you two probably wanted some more too."

"Uh…yeah…" Zack smiled. "I'll ask him about it."

Vincent couldn't help smiling in return. "So how long have you two…?"

"Well…about a week now," Zack said rubbing at his head again. "He's still kind of shy about it though."

"So I won't be the only one being teased at least," Vincent said laughing softly. "Take good care of him." At Zack's nod Vincent turned heading back out the door. So far it sounded like this plan would work. Now they just needed to find a cheap place with a good amount of room and they'd be good to go.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The first place he headed to after class was the auto shop. He remembered Cid saying he had to work tonight so he wanted to be there to meet him when he got off. There was something else he wanted to discuss with the man.

He waved to the man at the front desk, the guy accustomed to seeing him by now. His name was Barret. He was a tall, muscular ebony male with cornrows on his head and looked like he was made for rebuilding cars. He'd been the one to hire Cid at the auto shop being the owner of the place and was literally about as gruff as Cid was when it came to talking. Despite his rough appearance, he was really a kind guy who didn't give up the time to talk about his daughter Marlene whenever he got the chance.

Apparently, she wasn't really his daughter. But he'd adopted her as one of his own and from the sounds of it, would have no other way. They were almost inseparable. He'd seen as much when the girl had come by with her friends to visit him. She was in middle school now. Barret was very protective of her making sure she gave him a call when she got home or if she was staying at a friend's house and later mentioned that there were just too many damn perverts in the world for him not to worry.

The two of them made small talk while Vincent stared through the customer window into the workshop. Barret has become accustomed to it and had picked up on the two being in a relationship. But he never made a comment towards it and Vincent never verbally admitted to it. It was just another part of life in their eyes.

But this was seriously becoming a favorite past time of his. He watched Cid while he worked. The shorter male flexing muscles needed to remove the large tire from the truck he was working on. His coveralls were covered in oil and soot. He looked hot, sweat forming on his forehead in small beads before he used the towel in his coveralls to wipe it away. His sleeves were pushed up letting Vincent see the muscles at work as Cid filled the tire with air then took it back to the truck once more lifting it to put it back on, his face set in concentration.

After he lowered the truck down he went to the hood, bending over it and tinkling with things inside that Vincent had no ideas about. Hell, he could care less about what was inside of the car. Just that he got to enjoy watching Cid's butt wiggling around in the air while he worked.

"So, how are things at home with ya?"

"Hm?" Vincent cut his eyes away looking guilty under the other man's knowing smile. "Everything's fine. My mom's been hounding me on when I'm going to come visit next."

"That's good," Barret said resting his elbows down on the counter. "Always good to check up on mom."

"I'm worried about her income," Vincent said frowning. "She said business where she works has been kind of slow lately. I'm worried about her and my siblings. I told her I have a job. I'm hoping she doesn't send me money this month."

"She can't help worrying about ya," Barret said pushing back from the counter. "You're her first born. Her baby boy. Of course she's gonna wanna make sure you're ok. Fuck, I do the same thing with Marlene all da time."

"I want to help more," Vincent said looking back out the window seeing Cid washing his hands. "I want to make more money so I can keep them safe and healthy."

"You'll make it, kid," Barret said coming over and panting Vincent's back so hard he almost fell over. But he grinned at he looked down at him reminding Vincent of a gentle, big bear. "Hell, after tasting those snacks ya brought, I'm sure you'll be up there cooking for the stars in no time."

"Thanks," Vincent said smiling kindly.

"Besides, ya got someone there that wants to help ya, doncha?" Vincent blinked at the words before he looked out seeing Cid heading their way. When the blond looked up as he got close he smiled seeing Vincent and couldn't help waving at him. "I doubt he'll let anything happen to ya or your family. Ya can guarantee that. Kid's got a heart of gold on him even if his fucking mouth is worse than mine." His burly laugh was loud enough to shake his whole body as it came out.

Vincent couldn't help the smile on his face at the laugh, his eyes turning to the door as Cid came inside lifting a brow as he looked at Barret.

"What the fuck crawled on his funny bone?" He asked staring at the man.

"It's nothing," Vincent said smiling as he walked over. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah, I'm good and tired. I swear I smell like bad grease," Cid said making a face before he waved to Barret. I'll see ya later this week."

"Yeah yeah, get out of here with your scrawny ass." But the way he said it had something of an enduring feeling to it. The two of them left out heading down the street on the way to the dorms. Cid was still wiping at his forehead, his goggles having little specks of oil on them that Vincent found he wanted to wash clean. Hell, he didn't mind the idea of just washing Cid in general. But he couldn't take that chance in such a public dorm.

"Cid." He said the name lightly but it still made the other turn his head to look at him with curiosity. "What are you doing for break?" It was strange that he was able to walk around with just a turtleneck today. Considering it was winter here, he thought the weather would be colder. Instead it seemed to go back and forth being freezing one day then t-shirt weather the next.

"Hm? Eh…I don't know yet. Probably nothing." Cid blinked up at him. "Why?"

"…I was wondering if you'd like to come to my house for break."

"Eh?" Cid blinked freezing where he was. "Wow, I'm meeting the parents already?" He seemed almost nervous though his lips showed him smiling. "Gonna introduce me as the boyfriend of your dreams?"

"…I might," Vincent said making the smile on Cid's face drop to shock. "My mom knows I'm gay," Vincent said smiling at him to relax him. "So it wouldn't be a shocker if I brought a man home."

"Heh wow…I wasn't really expecting that." Cid smiled as the two of them started to walk again. "I like the idea of seeing what your house looks like." He smiled at him grinning as he stretched his arms over his head. "Hell, I get to see the room you wanked off in."

"C-Cid!"

"Well it's true!" Cid said laughing. "Fuck! I used to wank off all the time in high school!" Vincent blushed at the admission trying not to let it put such naughty images in his head. He almost wanted to ask what Cid thought about when he did it but he left it alone.

"You're thinking about me wanking off aren't you?" Cid said face suddenly close to Vincent's making the other step back quickly with a blush.

"I-I'm not!" Vincent yelled out wishing his had his red scarf with him to hide his blush.

Cid made a face. "Don't tell me I'm the only one that does that!" He yelled out dramatically. "Fuck, I think about you doing it all the time." His face lit up as he grinned leaning closer. "Think we'll have a chance to do it while we're there?"

"No," Vincent said resting fingers against his forehead wishing his face would stop turning red. "I have little siblings there that don't understand the concept of privacy."

"Damn."

"You'll just have to wait a bit longer until we get our rental place." He blinked tensing up when the felt the other move behind him hugging him close. He knew his face was red this time, especially since there were people still walking around. "C-Cid. We're still in public."

"I don't care anymore," Cid said nuzzling his neck pulling him closer as he looked out past him. "Fuck, I don't care what people think. I'm tired of not getting to hold you whenever the fuck I want."

"Cid…" Vincent smiled softly and started to relax, reaching down to rest his hand over Cid's ignoring how some people seemed to show disapproval at their open display of affection. What did it matter to other people what they did? It wasn't any of their business anyway. Hell, they were human beings. They should be allowed to love whoever they wanted. He turned himself around in Cid's arms to face him before he leaned down resting his forehead against Cid's, happy to see the other staring up at him and smiling softly. "I love you."

"Good," Cid said leaning in giving his lips a quick kiss. "Otherwise I'd feel silly doing this." He smiled against his lips kissing him a bit longer before he broke it reaching down to hold Vincent's hand. "Now let's get the fuck back to the dorms. It's getting chilly out here."

TBC…

I generally had fun writing Barret in this part. XD I almost forgot he has cornrows now as his new hairstyle.


	9. Chapter 9

Warnings: Yummy foods, hormones, college drinking, and some other stuff I haven't thought of yet

Pairings: Cid/Vincent

Comment: Warning for Juicy bits towards the end. XD Though not detailed but safe enough for this site...I think.

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Culinary Boy 09

It was getting a little…odd how often Sephiroth was showing up at the bakery. Though then again, from what Melissa said, he was a regular customer and one she openly swooned over getting to serve. She said he'd been away for a while on business so he'd told her. She wasn't the only one excited over him though. Many women that came to the shop gawked at the man. He was beautiful and very attractive, handsome, poised. Of course women would want to be near him. The same could be said of Vincent who'd drawn even more women to the shop ever since he started working there. They found his mysterious, quiet nature a nice quality. So when you put these two different men together, one quiet one confident, it wasn't a lie that every female eye in the shop turned their way. It was why Melissa tended to like to send him to take Sephiroth's order.

For Vincent it was kind of unnerving. He didn't like attention, something his eyes brought to him all the time. He had enough to deal with at the college with the girls that stalked him around wanting his attention. Now he had to deal with it at work as well? But that wasn't the only reason he'd been feeling uncomfortable lately.

"You're doing a good job of knowing what I like," Sephiroth said staring up at him with his pulsating green eyes. He had something of a smirk on his face, his finger spinning circles around the rim of the coffee mug in front of him that had yet to be touched by his lips.

"It is my job to make the customer's happy," Vincent said frowning slightly as he gave his head a small bow.

"Then it would make me very happy if you would join me tonight for some dinner."

"…I can't," Vincent said, the request so common now he wasn't even surprised. "I'm meeting with someone tonight."

"That seems to be the common answer that you give me every time," Sephiroth said pausing to pick up the cup and taking a sip of the contents inside as his eyes went up to stare at Vincent watchfully over the rim. When he lowered the cup and his tongue went out to lick clean the excess coffee on his lips, Vincent cut his eyes away quickly shifting himself in discomfort. He wouldn't lie. The guy was very attractive. It was almost torture to be next to someone so hot.

Sephiroth was talking again, but Vincent was barely listening. He was thinking about Cid, smiling a bit when he thought about what tonight was going to be. They were going on a date tonight. Not just a walk through the park this time but an actual date. It was their first real date since getting together and it put a blush on his lips just thinking about it.

"….troduce me to your friend." Wait…what did he just miss?

"Sorry, what?" Vincent said looking back down at Sephiroth and finding an amused smile staring back at him.

"I said you should introduce me to your friend. Maybe the three of us can go out to eat tomorrow. My treat." He leaned back in the chair, one leg crossed over the other as he stared up at Vincent.

"I…well…"

"Vincent, you're needed behind the counter!" Melissa's voice ranged out to him. Thank god Melissa was there to give him distraction.

"Sorry, I have to go." He reached down grabbing the saucer with the cup on top and froze tensing up when Sephiroth's hand went around his wrist holding him in place.

"Think about it," Sephiroth said smirking up at him. "I'll wait here until closing." He released his grip on Vincent's wrist leaving the ebony haired male standing there staring at him.

"Vincent, hurry up!"

"Coming!" He glanced down at Sephiroth one last time before he frowned and turned walking away towards the counter. He knew the green eyes were following him but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Really, why was Sephiroth asking him that? Worse, why was Sephiroth so determined to hang out with him? Maybe he just needed a friend? Yeah that had to be it…it wasn't that Vincent was reading too much into his actions.

He could faintly feel the other's eyes following him everywhere he went but he did his best to ignore it fulfilling his duties of serving customers and helping out in the kitchen. He'd been helping with the dishes and with baking the pastries and sweets that were running lower. The plus side of working in the kitchen was that he was able to avoid the eyes of his customers, and Sephiroth, staring at him. Mrs. Cook observed his culinary work in the back giving a nod of approval when he did something to her liking. She was really helping in explaining what each spice did and how they each insinuated the tastes of the delicious pastries. She was even able to tell him how to make something taste good to a person who couldn't eat a lot of sugars or salts.

It was easy to lose track of time, especially when he came back to help at the register and to run orders to various tables for the customers to eat. Even the old man was there with his usual mocha that Vincent had learned to make just right. He called the old man Mr. Walker and found out that he was a really old friend to Mrs. Cook. The two seemed to enjoy jibing at each other whenever the opportunity opened itself up for it. So again, he lost the ability to keep track of time until he blinked finding Cid standing at the counter and looking a little embarrassed to be in the little café while it was still busy.

Instantly, Vincent's eyes shot up to the clock before he blinked. He still had an hour left for work. What was Cid doing here so early?

"Hey Cid, you coming here as a customer for once?" Melissa said smiling good naturedly. She was used to seeing the man now and had developed a small friendship with him. Granted, she enjoyed riling the man up. "Not just here to ogle your boyfriend, are you?" Yeah…she knew. She knew they were dating. And she didn't care one bit about it other than to find fun in teasing the two when she could.

"Yeah, I guess," Cid said his Moogle pack of cigarettes tucked up on the side of his head strapped in place by the goggles. "Class let out early today so I figured I'd just come hang out here till work was over." He said it as he glanced over at Vincent making the man blush red. Hell, he had no complaints on seeing Cid earlier than expected. "So uh…just get me one of those things," he pointed to an apple turnover, "and a cup of some damn hot tea."

"With or without the glaze?"

"Hell yeah, I want the glaze," he said grinning. "And some of that powdery stuff too." Melissa giggled putting the order in and Vincent couldn't help smiling at Cid's gruffness. It was just one of the things he loved about the man.

"Fine. I've ranged it up. Go have a seat over there. Vincent'll bring it out to you in a jiffy." Cid gave a rough nod before he turned heading towards the table shoving his hands into his pockets. While he was leaving, Vincent grabbed a turnover heating it up while the tea was filling up the small coffee cup. He added some lemon to it and some sugar having an idea of how Cid liked his tea from past experiences in making it for him.

He noticed that some of the women were already staring and swooning over Cid's manly hotness, but he didn't let it get to him. Hell, he already knew Cid belonged to him. He had nothing to fear of anyone trying to steal him away. As he carried the tray over to Cid he found himself smiling more when he got closer seeing the blue eyes light up at the sight of the sticky treat.

"Here you are, sir," Vincent said sitting the saucer down in front of Cid along with the cup of tea. He waited, anxious to see what Cid thought of it. He'd made the apple turnovers himself. And granted he'd seen people eating them before with no complaints, it was something else to just hear Cid say he liked it. "Please taste it to see if it's to your liking."

"Don't mind if I fucking do," Cid said, not so loud that people would complain about his cursing but enough that Vincent could hear it. He used his fork to dig in tearing a piece away before bringing it to his lips and eating it. And Vincent watched every move from the moving jaws chomping down on the flaky crust covered in glaze to the way Cid closed his eyes and seemed to moan in his mouth at the delicious taste. When the eyes opened again staring up at him he swore his heart stopped beating for a moment. Drop dead sexy.

"Fuuuuck, this is good," Cid said staring up at him.

"I'm…I'm glad you like it," Vincent said the small smile lifting on his lips again as he hugged the tray to him. Really, when did he start smiling this much? Was it ever since Cid started talking to him? Or when they started dating? He wasn't really sure and he really didn't care so long as Cid was there with him. But as much as he wanted to stay here all day and stare at Cid while he ate, he needed to get back to work. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Well, I know something I wouldn't fucking mind having," Cid said. Vincent blinked staring at him but when he saw the eyes slide down to his crotch he blushed bright red moving the tray down to casually hide his crotch from view.

"C-Cid."

"Get me another one of these fucking apple things," Cid said turning his eyes back to the saucer but not before Vincent saw the cheeky smirk on Cid's lips. "Just one ain't gonna be e-fucking-nough."

"Alright," Vincent said glad to feel his cheeks cooling down and his heart beat slowing down a little bit. "I'll bring it out to you in a jiffy." He borrowed Melissa's word giving Cid a smile at the laugh he gave him before turned heading back to the counter.

"Having fun playing with your boyfriend?" Melissa said laughing at the blush on his face.

"More or less," he said glancing over to see Cid literally devouring the apple turnover on his saucer.

"You should definitely smile more." She smiled over at him when she said it. "It looks cute on you."

Vincent blushed deciding not to answer that as he took a few more orders from the customers before he worked on making another apple turnover for Cid. He started heading to the table with the fresh dessert before he froze, his eyes widening as he stared towards the table. Cid wasn't alone anymore. Sephiroth was there, chattering and making Cid laugh like they were old friends. It felt awkward to see the man so close to his boyfriend and made him frown before he moved walking over and placing the saucer down in front of Cid.

"Vincent, why didn't you tell me you knew Cid?" Sephiroth said smiling up at him. "I haven't seen him in a long time."

Vincent blinked and tensed slightly looking away from the eyes. "I didn't know you knew each other."

"Hell yeah," Cid said already digging into the turnover. "He used to help me with my literature homework back at Chocobo High." The orgasmic look on Cid's face at the taste of the turnover was perfect…or at least it would have been had Sephiroth not been there to ruin the effect.

"Cid was really horrible when it came to literature."

"I know," Vincent said standing up straighter and frowning down at the man's green eyes. "I'm helping him with his literature homework right now."

"I see," Sephiroth said smirking up at him. It made him wilt some seeing the eyes feeding on him before he looked away again.

"Sephy here asked if we wanted to eat dinner with him tomorrow. Something about a fucking delicious seafood restaurant or something." Sephy...?

"It's a place my family owns," Sephiroth said not even fazed by the small nickname that dropped from Cid's lips. "I think the two of you will find it very appetizing." The way the eyes seemed to roam over Vincent's body just sent more shivers through his thin form. This man…what did he want with them? Was he trying to ruin their perfect chemistry? "So are you still dating Shera?" Vincent's eyes snapped over to Cid in surprise. Shera? Who was Shera? He'd never heard that name before.

"Nah," Cid said looking uncomfortable at the sound of the name. "We kinda broke it off before I got to college. Not something I like to fuckin talk about." The look in Cid's eyes made Vincent's own eyes soften at the sight. What happened to put that kind of defeated look on Cid's face?

"Hmm…a shame," Sephiroth said frowning. "You two looked good together."

"Nah," Cid said before a soft smile appeared on his lips. "Thanks to that I'm dating the hottest babe in the world." The words made Vincent's heart melt before he found himself smiling softly in return seeing the eyes glance his way.

"Then you should bring your date to our dinner get together tomorrow," Sephiroth said.

"Oh don't worry, he'll fucking be there," Cid said grinning up at Vincent. "Ain't that right, babe?"

Vincent tensed up at the unexpected attention. "I uh…y-yeah," Vincent said blushing red at the admission, his eyes so focused on Cid's that he missed the frown that passed over Sephiroth's face. But it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared before the silver haired male was chuckling.

"I see now," he said smiling at them kindly. "Then I must congratulate you. This is an interesting turn of events." Something about how he said that put Vincent on edge. But it seemed to slide past Cid who chuckled nervously and scratched behind his head shyly.

"Fuck, you're makin me blush," Cid said laughing. "Anyway, Vin, go finish up so we can get the fuck out of here." He smiled when he said it. "I can't wait to take you on this date." Vincent just gave a nod though inside he felt warm seeing the smile on Cid's face. He really was looking forward to it as well, even if he wasn't looking forward to tomorrow's dinner.

"Don't worry about wearing anything fancy tomorrow. We'll have a private dining area." Sephiroth smirked up at Vincent as he handed him the emptied sauce. It was just a little twist up of the lips but it was enough to make him wonder if there was something more going on with Sephiroth's plan. But before he had a chance to really think about it he was heading off back to the kitchen to wash the dishes he was sure had been gathered there.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Something on your mind, Vin?"

Vincent blinked looking over at Cid. The watchful blue eyes were looking at him worriedly. It made him feel like a heel for bringing down this date they were on. They were at the city carnival that came into town this week. It was his first time really going to one since his mom was never able to afford it. He admitted he was excited about going, especially after seeing all the colorful lights and the cheesy carnival music that seemed to spread its own good natured cheer around. He should have been having fun. Instead he was still thinking about Sephiroth, trying to figure out what the older man wanted. He'd never really talked to him that much in school before, so why was he talking to him now?

"It's nothing," Vincent said tucking his head down slightly. He remembered to bring his red scarf with him and was happy about it as he tugged his chin down in it and pulled his coat tighter around himself. It was still pretty chilly out just not crazy cold like it'd been the last week. They had finals next week before the two of them would be heading out to his mother's house for the break.

A part of that bothered him too. They were a struggling family, people that were living off very little income and using every resource that they could just to live. He'd started sending some money home to help his mother out, even if she kept repeatedly telling him to keep his money. But how could he knowing they were at home struggling? So he was excited about the idea of getting to see them and check up on them even if it meant Cid having to see the kind of life style he lived in.

"It must be something for you to be this damn fucking quiet," Cid said frowning. "You ain't really said much of anything since we got here." Since there was a no smoking sign outside the carnival, he'd made sure to get all the nicotine he could before they went inside. Vincent could smell the faint scent of the Moogle cigarettes hovering around Cid. But he didn't care. It'd become a unique part of Cid that he didn't think he'd be the same without. He felt Cid reach down and hold his hand and found himself smiling as he stared at him. No, this wasn't the time to be worrying about things. He was here to have fun, right?

"It's nothing, really," Vincent said ignoring the people around them as he squeezed Cid's hand lightly. "How about we get on that?" He pointed towards the Merry Go Round. Cid followed his eyes, lifting a brow slightly.

"…Bet that would be fucking interesting to have sex on."

"Cid!"

"What?" Cid looked at him innocently completely ignoring the mortified blush on Vincent's face. "I'm just stating a fucking fact. Shit." But he was grinning when he said it making Vincent laugh out despite himself. "There we go. There's that fucking laugh I love."

"Cid…" Vincent smiled swearing he'd be so lost right now if it weren't for this man.

"Alright," the blond said tugging on Vincent's hand as he led them to the ride. "Let's fucking ride a horse. Then we're getting on that damn roller coaster whether you want to or not."

"Yes sir," Vincent said following after him like a willing pup on a leash.

An hour and a half had passed by the time they were leaving and heading back towards the dorms. Cid was talking, sometimes about the carnival and sometimes about other things with Vincent putting his two cents in every so often. They'd had fun. There were a lot of things they did together like riding on the bumper cars and the haunted house that wasn't scary at all. They shared a funnel cake together with Cid laughing each time the powder got on Vincent's face. They also rode on the roller coaster Cid had been determined from the start to get them on leaving Vincent with clenched eyes and a tight lip each time they declined at a fast speed. They even got to spend a little bit of intimate time on the ferris wheel. Granted they didn't do much but at least they got to get some good kissing in.

"Let's cut through here," Cid said stopping by an alleyway. Vincent frowned already being tugged into the dark alley.

"I don't know…isn't this kind of dangerous?"

"Nah, it's cool," Cid said laughing. "We'll be in and out before you know it." He was still holding his hand warming the chill that was taking over Vincent's fingers and giving him the confidence to follow along. He'd heard about alleys, about how people would hide in them and threaten you with a knife to give them all your money. Honestly, Vincent didn't have enough to give. That poor bandit would be robbing the poor. But he guessed to a robber, he was considered rich in their eyes.

His body was suddenly pushed back against the side of the wall and a small sound escaped him as he tensed up. But he calmed down barely making out Cid's features in front of him before the other was kissing him. He didn't get to ask why Cid was doing this here, his eyes slipping shut as the kiss deepened. A tongue pushed against his lips asking for entry and he didn't deny it as he opened his mouth. He felt Cid's hand sliding underneath his shirt touching along his cold skin with warm fingers that sent a chill through his body.

A moan slipped from his lips into the other's mouth as he felt his shorter lover starting to grind against him. Just from this he was already excited down there. He barely took notice of the other sliding his free hand down to unbutton his pants, the feel of a warm hand sliding up the small of his back sending chills through his body. Cid broke the kiss leaving the two of them panting and staring at each other before Cid dropped to his knees in front of him.

"C-Cid?" He knew the questioning sound was in his shaky voice. He couldn't focus on what Cid was doing, his breath coming out as smoke before his flushed face. His eyes followed Cid down to where he was kneeling in front of him before his eyes clenched shut and he bit his lips to keep the muffled moan silent against the quiet of the alley. He could feel the warmth of the mouth working around him and felt trapped against the wall, his hands moving down to grip Cid's hair as he pushed his hips forward against the heat.

It'd been so long since he'd gotten to feel this pleasure that he found himself snapping his hips forward. His breath came out in harder pants, his mouth opened slightly as he dipped his head back against the wall, shoulders tense as his back arched away from the hard surface. Cid didn't say anything, not that he could considering his position.

His whole body tensed up before he relaxed with a shuttering breath, his fingers relaxing the grip on the blond hair. Cid stood again, swallowing slightly before he leaned forward kissing Vincent's lips softly again and reaching down to fix the pants. He leaned back when he finished then leaned forward pressing a kiss to Vincent's temple.

"Feeling better?" He said resting his forehead against Vincent's.

"…Hm?" Vincent blinked staring into the blue eyes. Cid chuckled in response as he wrapped his arms around Vincent's waist pulling him closer.

"You've been pretty damn tense lately," Cid said burying his nose in Vincent's neck. "I figured you must not have been able to fucking knock one off for a while or something." Well…that was true. Since that night he'd spent with Cid he hadn't had the time or freedom or even the privacy to do anything. Though that was only part of the reason for his supposed tenseness. But he wasn't ready to mention his suspicions of Sephiroth, not when Cid seemed to speak so highly of him. They must have been very close at some point. "Thought I'd try helping out."

"Thanks," Vincent said sighing against his neck gently kissing it. "It really did help."

"Good," Cid said pulling back and laughing. "You still taste pretty fucking sweet." When Cid winked at him after the statement and the words sunk in on what he really mean, Vincent found his cheeks turning a bright red.

"Cid!" Vincent pushed him away bashfully but Cid just laughed and looking almost like he was skipping with how fast he was walking away.

"Come on, Vin! Let's get back. I'm fucking exhausted." Vincent sighed, rubbing at his cheeks before he followed after him to exit the alley and continue their track towards the dorms.

TBC…

Did I mention I had fun with this chapter? XD And for some reason I just can't stop Cid from wanting to bang Vincent everywhere.


End file.
